quite as well for the defcription of a Popifh one.
MonfieurTourneforty in his travels through Greece^
fefle6b upon the Greek Church, for having re-
tained and taken into their prefcnt worlhip
many oi' the old rites of Heathenifm, and parti-
cularly that of carrying and dancing about the
Images of the Saints in their proceffions, to finging
and mufic [/] : the refleftion is full as applicable
to his own, as it is to the Greek Church, and the
practice itfelt fo far from giving fcandal in Italy^
that the learned Publiflier of the llorenline In-
fcriptions takes occafion to flicw the conformity
between them and the Heathens, from this very
inftance of carrying about the ficlures of their
Saints, as the Pagans did thofe of their Gods, in
their f acred proccffions \g\ .
In one oi ihz^Q pyocejfons, made lately to St.
Petcr^s in the time of Lent, I faw that ridiculous
[/] Toumcfort, Lit. iii. 44.
Ul Cui non abludunt (fi facra cum profanis conferrc
fas eft) piAx tabula; Sandlorum imaginibus exornatx, qua:,
iic. Infcript. Antig. Flor. p. 377.
pencnce >
138 A 1. ■£. T T -E K from Rome.
'penance of tht flagellant es^ or felf-whippers, wtio
march with whips in their hands, and lafh them-
felves as they go along, on the bare back, till
jt is all covered with blood \ in the fame manner,
as the fanatical Priejis of Bellona or the Syrian
Gcddefs^ as well as the votaries of IJisy ufed to
flalh and cut themfelves of old, in order to
pleafe the Goddefs^ by the facrifice of their own
blood: which mad piece of difcipline we find fre-
quently mentioned, and as oft ridiculed by the
ancient writers.
But they have another exercife of the fame
kind, and in the fame feafon of Lent, which,
under the notion of penance, is Hill a more ab-
furd mockery of all religion : when on a certain
day, appointed annually for this difcipline,
men of all conditions aflemble themfelves to-
wards the evening, in one of the Churches of
the City ; where whips or lafhes made of cords
are provided, and diftributed to every perfon
prefent ; and after they are all ferved, "and a
fhort ofHce of devotion performed ; the candles
being put out, upon the warning of a little
bell, the whole company begin prefently to
llrip, and try the force of thefe whips on their
own backs, for the fpace of near an hour: dur-
ing all which time, the Church becomes, as it
were, the proper Image of Hell : where nothing
is heard but the noife of lalhes and chains, miked
with the groans of thefe felf-tormentors; till
fatiated with their exercife, they are content to
put
A Letter from Rome. 139
put on their deaths, and the candles being
lighted again, upon the tinkling of a fecond
bell, they all appear in their proper drefs.
Seneca^ alluding to the very fame cfFeds of
fafiaticifm in Pagan Rome^ fays •, " So great is
* the force of it on difordcred minds, that they
' try to appeafe the Gods by fuch methods, as
' an enraged man would hardly take to revenge
' himfelf. But, if there be any Gods, who
' defire to be worlhippcd after this manner,
' they dp not deferve to be worfhipped at
' all : fmce the very worft of Tyrants, though
' they have fometimes torn a tortured people's
' limbs, yet have never commanded men to
' torture themfelves [/^]."
But there is no occafion to imagine, that all
the blood, which fcems to tlow on thefe occa-
ilons, really comes from the backs- of thefe Bi-
gots : for it is probable, that, like t\\tw frantic
Predeccffors^ they may ufe fome crafty as well as
zealy in this their fury j and I cannot but think,
that there was a great deal of juftice in that
edi(5t of the Emperor ComnicduSy with regard to
t\i^^t Bellonariiy ov whipper 5 of antiquity ^ thouo-h
it is ufually imputed to his cruelty, when he
\Ji\ Tantus eft perturbatac mentis furor, ut fic Dii pla-
centur, quemadmodum nc homines quidem Hcviunt. •
Dii autem nullo debent coli genere, fi Sc hoc volunt
Teterrimi tyranni laceraverunt aliquorum membra ; nemi-
ncm fua lacerarc juflerimt. Seneca Fragm. apud Lipfii
Eka. 1. ii. 18.
commaiided, .
f 4© A Letter from Rome.
commanded, that they Jhould not he fuffered to
impofe upon- the fpe5iators, but be obliged to cut
cndjlajh themfehes in good earneji [i)].
If I had leifure to examine the pretended mira-
cles, and pious frauds of the Romifh Church, I
ihould be able to trace them all from the fame
fource of Paganifm, and find, that the Priejis
cf new Rome are not degenerated from their prc-
decejfors, in the art of forging thefe holy im^
poftiires\ which, as hivy obferves of old Rome [/],
ivere always multiplied in proportion to the cre-
dulity and difpofition of the poor people to fivallow
them.
In the early times of the republic, in the war
with the Latins, the Gods Cajlor and Pollux are
faid to have appeared on white horfes in the Ro-
man army, which by their afTiftance gained a
complete vidlory : in memory of which, the
General Pojihumius vowed and built a Temple pub-
licly to thofe Deities ; and for a proof of the fadl,
there was Ihewn, we find, in Cicero's time, the
mark of the horfes hoofs on a rock at Regillum,
where they firft appeared [^].
[/^] Bellonas fenaentes vere exfecare brachium prascepit
iludio crudelitatis. Lamprid. in Commodo, 9.
\f\ Quae quo magis credebant fimplices & rellgiofi ho-
jr.ines, eo plura nunciabantur. Liv. 1. xxiv. \o.
[/f] Cic. de Nat. Deor. 1. iii. 5. lb. ii. 2. Vid. de Diy.i.
Now
A Letter from Rom e. 141
Now this miracle, with many others, that I
could mention of the fame kind [/], has, I dare
fay, as authentic an attellation, as any which
the Papifts can produce : the decree of a Senate
to confirm it -, a Temple trt6k.tdi in confcquence of
k i vifible marks of the facfl on the fpot where it
was tran failed •, and all this fupported by the
concurrent teftimony of the heji authors of anti- ^
qtiity ; amongft whom Dionyftus of Halicarnajfus
fays [w], that there were fubfifting in his time
at Rome many evident proofs of it's realty, be-
fides 2. yearly fejiival, with a ioXtmn facrifce and
procejfwn in memory of it : yet for all this, thele
ftories were but the jeft of men of fenfe, even
in the times o{ Heathenifm [n] -, and feem fo ex-
travagant to us now, that we wonder, how
there could ever be any fo fimple, as to believe
them.
What better opinion then can we have, of all
thofe of the fame ftamp in the Popijh Legends y
which they have plainly built on this foundation,
and copied from this very original ? Not con-
tent with barely copying, they feldom fail to
improve the old ftory, with fome additional
forgery and invention of their own. Thus ia
[/] Cic. Nat. D. ii. 2. Plutar. in vita P. ^mil. Val.
Max. c. viii. 1. L. Flor. 1. i. 11. 1. i. 12.
[ni] Dion. Halic. 1. vi. p. 337. Edit. Hudfon.
[»] Aut fi hoc fieri potuiffe dicis, doceas opojtet, quo-
modo, nee fabellas anilcs proferas. Cic. Ibid. iii. 5.
the
142 yi Letter from Rome.
the prefent cafe, inflead of two perfons on white
horfes:, they take care to introduce three ;- and.
not only on white horfes, but at the head of
white armies ; as in an old hiftory of the holy
wars, written by a pretended eye-witnefs, and.
publifhed by Mahillon^ it is folemnly affirmed of
St. George'^ Demetrius, and Theodorus [
Ihew us too in feveral parts of Italy, the marks of
hands a.nd feet on rocks and ft ones, faid to have,
been effefted miraculoufly by the apparition of
fome Saint or Angel on the fpot [p] : juft as the
imprejjion of Hercules' s feet was fhewn of old on a
ftone in Scythia \j[\, ex^dlly irefembling the foot-
' fteps of a man. And they have alfo many
Churches and public monuments [r] erefled, in
teftimony
[o] Tres itaque milites perfequentes illos fedebant fuper
albos equos — credenda eft ifta Veritas, & nullo modo pro-
hibenda — hoc vero firmatum eft teftimonio eorundem Tur-
corum — Ifti vero fuerunt Chrifti milites Sanftus Demetrius,
San6lus Georgius, & Sanftus Theodorus, quos Deus man-
davit, &c.
Adjuvante eos Domino & vifibiliter mittente eis in adju.
torium fandos fuos Bellatores, videl. Denietrium multotiens,'
aliquando Georgium, nccnon & interdum Theodorum ';
aliquando totos tres cum fuis dealbatis exerjcitibus, viden-
tibus non folum Chrifti militibus, fed etiam ipfis inimicis
Paganis, &c. Vid. Bell. Sac. Hift. in Mabill. Iter. Italt. i;
Par. ii. p. 138, 155.
\y\ Si conferva poi in quefta Chiefa una pietra, foprala
quale apparendo TAngelo in Caftcllo, vi lafcio le piantcde
fuoi piedi imprclTe, e u'un fanciullo paiono le veftigia.
R. Mod. Gior. v. Ricn. di Campetalii, c. i.
[y] Hcrodot. 1. iv. p. 4. 251. Edit. Lond.
[r] There is an Altar of marble in St. Peter's, one of the
greateft pieces of modern fculptare, reprefenting in figures
as
A Letter from Rome. 14^'
teftlmony of fuch miracles, viz, of Saints and
Angels fighting vifibly for them in their battles ;
which though always as ridiculous as tliat above-
mentioned, are not yet fupportcd by half fo
good evidence of their reality [j].
" The religion of Ceres of Enna was cele-
brated, as Cicero informs us, with a won-
derfuU devotion, both in public and private,
through all Sicily : for her prefence and divi-
nity had been frequently manifefted to them
by numerous prodigies, and many people
had received immediate help from her in
their utmoft diftrefs. Her Image therefore
in that Temple was held in fuch veneration,
that whenever men beheld it, they fanfied
themfelves beholding either Ceres herfelf, or
the figure of her at leaft, not made by human
hands, but dropt down to them frojn hea-
ven [^]." Now if, in the place of Ceres of
Enna,
as large as the life, the ftory of AtiUa King of the Hunns,
who in full march towards Rome with a vidlorious army, in
order to pillage it, was frighted and driven back by the
apparition of an Angel, in the time of Pope Leo the firft.
The Caftle and Church of St. Angelo have their title from
the apparition of an Angel over the place, in the time of
Qregory the Great. Rom. Moder. Giorn. i. Rion. di Borgo i.
[j] Divum Jacobum nationis Hifpanicae, qui armatus
fa*pc vifus in fublime prxire ac protegere acies Hifpanorum,
nobilcfque iis vidorias in facris bellis conciliare. Boldonni
Epigraph. 1. il. p. 349.
[/] Mira qu.cdam tota Slcilia privatlm ac publice religio
"s-ft Ccrerik Ennenfis. Etenim multa faepe prodigia vim ejus
numcnque
144 -^ Letter from Rom e.'
Ennay we fhould infert into this relation, our
Lady of Loretto, or of Impfuneta, or any other
miraculous Image in Italy ; the very fame account
would fuit as exadly with the hiftory of the
modern Saint, as it is told by the prefent Ro-
mansy as it formerly did with that of Ceres ^ as
it is tranfmitted to us by the Ancients. And
what elfe indeed are all their miractilous Mages,
which we fee in eveiy great toWn, faid to be
made by Angels , and fent to therti from hea-
ven [«], but mere copies of the ancient Fables,
or the Ato7r«T£j ^hyxK\i.o(,, or Image of Diana
dr opt from the clouds \w\ -, or the Palladium of
Troy, which, according to old Authors [;f], wa^
a wooden ftatue three cubits long, which fell
from heaven,
numenque declarant : multis fepe in difEcilllmIs rebus
prxfens auxilium ejus oblatum eft, &-c. In Verr. iv. 49.
Alterum autem Enns (fimulacrum Cereris) erat tale, ut
hcrminis cum viderent, aut ipfam fe videre Cererem, aut
effigiera Cereris, non humana manu faflam, fed cselo dclap-
fam arbitrarentur. lb. v. 7.
[«] Sed quorfum hie Sanfti Dojninici imagincm, qua:
apud Surrianum in Calabria jugibus nunc miraculis prsful-
get, filentio obvolvimus ? de Ccelo quippd, ut pia traditio
eft, hsEC primum anno 1530 delata validlflimum adverfus
impios iconoclaftas propugnaCulum exhibet. Aring. Rom.
Subter. 1. V. c. 5.
De imagine ilia, quae cum ab Angelis confeda fueritj
ciyn^TuTroii vocatur, nil nifi tritum fuccurrit. MontfaucDiat-
ibid. 137.
[iv] A^l.-Apoft. c. xix. 35.
[a:} Vid. Pitifci Lexic. Antiquitat-
, In
A Letter from Rome." 145
In one of their Churches here, they fhew a
•piBure of the Virgin^ which, as tlieir Writers
affirm [j], was brought Aow^n from heaven with
great pomp, and after having hung a while with
furprizing lufter in the air, in the fight of all
the Clergy and people of Rome ^ was delivered by
Angels into the hands of Pope John the Firfl, who
marched out in folemn procefllon, in order to
receive this celejlial prefent. And is not this ex-
adbly of a piece with the old Pagan fiory oi King
Numa, when, in this fame City, he ifllied from
his palace, with Priejis and people after him, and
with public prayer and folemn devotion received
the ancile, or heavenly fhield, wliich, in the pre-
fence of all the people of Rome^ was fent down
to him with much the fame formality /rc/« the
clouds [2] ? And as that wife Prince, for the fe-
CLirity of his heavenly prefent^ ordered feveral
others to be made fo exactly like it, that the
original could not be diftinguiflied \a\ ; fo the
Romifh Priejis have thence taken the hint, to
form, after each celejlial pattern, a number of
copieSf fo perfedly refembling each other, as to
[y'\ Vid. Rom. Modern. Giorn. li. Rion. di Ripa, c. xliii.
[«] A media Coelum regione dehifcere coepit :
Submifere oculos cum duce turba fuos.
Ecce levi fcutum verfatum Icniter aura
Decidit, a populo clamor ad aftra venit, kc.
Ov. Fait. 1. iii.
[a] Plura jubet fieri fimili coelata figura ;
Error ut ante oculos infidiantis cat.
Ov. Fart. 1. iii.
Vol. V, K occafion •
146 A Letter from Rome.
occafion endlefs fquabbles among themfelves
about their feveral pretenfions to the divine ori-
ginaL
The rod of Mofes, with which he performed
his miracles^ is ftill preferved, as they pretend,
and fhewn here with great devotion, in one of
the principal Churches : and juft fo the rod of
Rcmulus, with which he performed his auguries^
was preferved by the Priefts^ as a facred relique
in old Rome ^ and kept with great reverence from
being touched or handled by the people [i*] : which
rod too, like moft of the Popijh reliques^ had. the
tellimony of a miracle in proof of it's fandlity ;
for when the Temple, where it was kept, was
hirnt to the ground, it was found intire under the
afJoes, and untouched by the flames [c] : which
fame miracle has been borrowed and exaftly
copied by theprefent Romans, in many inftances ;
particularly, in a miraculous hnage of our Savi-
our in St. Jolm Lateran ; over which the flames,
it feems, had no power, though the Church it f elf
has been twice deflroycd by fire \d\
Nothing is more common among the miracles
cf Popery, than to hear of Images, that on cer-
r^] Ilx^a,>.uQovli; d U^h^ to |^Aoi/ u/aTre^ aMo T» tu/v Is^uv a-^xv-
fo^ i(pv?^a.rlov. Plutar. in Camil. 145. D.
[c] PolTunt & ilia miraculorum loco poni : Quod deuflo
facrario Saliorum, nihil in eo praeter lituum Romuli inte-
grum repertum eft. Valer. Max. c. viii. 10. It. Cic. de
Dlvin. i. 17. Pint, in Rom.
[ct] E quefta imagine non s'abbrucio, eflendo la Chiefa
(lata abbruciata due volte. Rom. Moder..Gior. vi. Rion. di
Monti xi.
taijj
A Letter from Rome. 147
tain occafions had fpoken i or Jhed tears ; or
fweat; or bled: and do not we find the very
fame (lories in all the Heathen PFriters ? Of
which I could bring numberlcfs examples from
old as well as new Rome^ from Pagan as well as
Popi/lj legends. Rome, as the Defcriber of it
fays [
Images : but he laments the negligence of their
anceftors, in not recording, fo particularly as
they ought, the very words and other circum-
ftances of fitch converfations. They fhew us here
an Image of the Virgin^ which reprimanded
Gregory the Greats for pa (Ting by her too care-
lefly: and, in St. Paulas Church, a crucifix,
which fpoke to St. Bridgith [/], Burantus
mentions another Madonna, which fpoke to the
fexton^ in commendation of the piety of one of her
votaries [^]. And did not the Image of Fortune
do the fame, or more, in old Rome? Which, as
[f] Non fi puo negare, che per le grancle abbondanza,
che ha' Roma in fimili tefori, non fiano ftati negliiTcnti i
noflri Maggiori, in darne buon conto a poflcri loro. Rom.
Mod. R. di Monti xxi.
[y] Vi e una Madonna detta di St. Gregorio, della quale
fi dice, che un giorno paflando il detto Pontifice, &: non fa-
lutandola, gli diceflc, &c. Ibid. Gior. v. Rion. di Cam-
petalli.
Ad fanftum Paulum, ubi vidimus ligncam Crucifixi ima-
ginem, quern fandla Brigida fibi loquentem audiviflc pcrhi-
tur. Mabill. D. Italic, p. 133.
[_^] Imaginem Sandx Maria: cuftodem Ecclefi.'c allocu-
tarn & Alexii fingularem pletatem commendafie. Durant.
dc Kit. I. i. c. 5.
K 2 Authors
14S A Letter from Rome.
Authors fay, fpoke twice in praife of thofe ma^
trons, who had dedicated a Temple to her [/&].
They have a Church here dedicated to St.
Mary the Weeper., or to a Madonna famous for
fliedding tears [z] ; They Ihew an Image too of
our Saviour^ which for fome time before the
Sacking of Rome wept fo heartily, that the good
fathers of the Monafiery were all employed in
wiping its face with cotton [^] : And was not the
cafe juft the fame among their ancefiors, when
on the approach of fome public calamity, the
fiatue of Apollo, as Livy tells us, wept for three
days and nights fucceffively \T\? They have ano-
ther Church, built in honor of an Image, which
hied very plentifully, from a blow given to it by
a blafphemer [ml : And were not the old Idols
too as full of blood, when as hivy relates, all the
[/'] Fortunse item Muliebiis fimulacrum, quod eft in via
Latina, non femel, fed bis locutum conftitit, his paene
verbis : Bene me, matronre, vidiftis, riteque dedicaftis.
Valer. Max. i. 8.
{f\ S. Maria del Pianto. Rom. Mod. Gior. iii. Rion.
della Regofa v.
[/f] Dicono, ch'avanti il facco di Roma pianfe piu volte,
e li Padri ci veniffero ad afciugar le lagrime con bombace,
lb. Gior. vi. Rio di Mon. xxxi.
[/] Apollo triduum & tres nodes lacrymavit. Liv.
1. xliii. 13.
\?n\ Comminciarono a tirarle de' faffi nel vifo, e ne ufcx
fangue, del quale fi vedono infm' hora i fegni, &c. Rom.
Mod. Gior. iii. Rio. di Ponte x\ ii.
Images
A Letter from Rome. 149
Images in the temple c/Jiino were feen to fweat
with drops of it [?/]?*
All which prodigies^ as well modern as ancient^
are derived from the fame fource, viz. the con-
trivance of priejts or governors^ in order to draw
fome gain or advantage out of the poor people,
whom they thus impofc upon.
Xenophon^ though himfclf much addi<5led to
fiiperfiition^ fpeaking of the Prodigies^ which
preceded the battle of Leu5fra^ and portended
victory to the Ti&^Z'
looked upon them all as forged and contrived by the
magiflrates [
rage the multitude: and as the originals them-
felves were but impofiures, it is no wonder, that
the copies of them appear fuch^ro/} and bungling
forgeries,
I have obferved a (lory in Herodotus [p], not
unlike the account, which is given of the famed
travels of the houfe of Loretto ; of certain facred
myflical things, that travelled about from country
to country, and, after many removals and jour-
neys, fettled at laft, for good and all, in Delus.
But this impojiure of the holy houfe might be fug-
[ff] Signa ad Junonis Sofpita; fudore manavere. Liv.
xxiii, 31.
Ad lucum Feronia; fanguinc fudarunt. lb. xxvii. 4.
[oj 01 ^EK cn Tin; hiyaaiv w; tcc^tcc iscala TsytxyfAOilx ^» Twr
"pr^osrjjwTwu. Xenoph. Ellen. 1. iv.
[j>] Herodot. 1. iv. p. 235. Edit. Lond.
K 3 gefted .
i^o A Letter from R o m e.^
gefled rather, as Mr. Addifon has obfervcd [^],
by the extraordinary veneration paid in old Rome
to the cottage of ifs founder Romulus : which
was held facred by the people, and repaired with
great care from time to time, with the fame kind
of WMterials, fo as to be kept up in the fame form,
in which it was originally built [r]. It was turn-
ed alfo, I find, hke this other cottage of our
Lady, into a temple, and had divine fervice per-
formed in it, till it happened to be burnt down
by the fire of a facrifice in the time of Augu-
ftus [j] •, but what makes the fimilitude ftill
more remarkable is, that this pretended cottage
of Romulus was fliewn on the Capitoline Hill [/] :
whereas it is certain, that Romulus himfelf lived
on Mount Palatin [«] ; fo that, if it had really
been the houfe of Romulus, it muft needs, like
the holy houfe of Loretto, have taken a leap m
the air, and fuffered a miraculous tranfiation,
though not from fo great a diflance, yet from
one hill at leaft to the other.
[q] Addifon & Travels from Fefaro to Rotne.
\r\ Dion. Halicar. I. i.
|7r£7rotw£o-«v, IkxvQ^. Dio. 1. xlviil. p. 383*
[t] Per Romuli cafam, perque veteris Capitolii humilia
tedajuro. Val. Max. I. iv. c. n.
Item in Capitolio commonefacere poteft & fignificare
mores vetuftatis Romuli cafa in arce facrorum. Vitruv.
1. ii. c. I. Vid. etiamMacrob. Sat. i. 15. Virg. ^n. viii. 65.
[/<■] Tlspl rr,v bIi; tIv lifKocgri^oy tov ^eyccy Ik n«?\.«f;B Holafeaatv.
Plutarch, in Rom. p. 30.
Pion. Hal. 1. ii. p. no. Ed. Hudf.
' Biit
A Letter from Rome. 151
But if we follow tlieir own writers, it is not
the holy houfe of Loretlo, but the homely cradle cf
our^Saviour, that wc lliould compare rather with
the lillle houfe of Romulus : which cradle is now
fliewn in St. Mary the Great, and on thrift iuas-
day, expofed on the high altar to the adoration
of the people; being held in the fame venera-
tion by p-efent Rome, as the humble cottage of
it's^ founder had been by it's old inhabitants.
Rome, idLVS Baronius [^x'], '* Is now in pofleffion
" of that noble monument of Chrift's Nativity,
*' made only of wood, without any ornament
*' of filver or gold, and is made more happily
*' illuftrious by it, than it was of old by the
*' cottage of Romulus-, which, though built
*' only v/ith mud and flraw, our anceftors pre-
*' ferved widi great care for many ages."
The juelting cf St. Januarius^s Blood at Na-
ples, whenever it is brought to his head, which
is done with great folemnity on the day of his
fefti'val [jy], whilft at all other times it continues
[.r] Pono in Chrllli natalis nobilc monumentum ex ligno
confeclum nuUuque argentl vel auri ca.-latura confeftuni,
Roma pofiidet, coque multo fclicius illullratur qiiam tuo^u-
rio Romuli, <5cc. Vid. Baron. An. i. Chrifti v. It. Aring.
Rom. Subt. 1. vi. i.
[_y] De fanfti Januarii cruore mirum quiddam narratur
in Breviario Romano — quod ejus fanguis, qui in ampulla
vitrca concretus afTervatur, cum in confpeftu capitis poni-
tur, adrairandum in modum coUiquificri videtur. Aringh.
Rom. Subtcr. 1. i. 16.
K 4 dred
.15^ ^Letter from R o m e.
dried and congealed in a gl-afs phial, is one of
the Jlandmg and moft authentic miracles of Italy,
Yet Mr. Addifon^ who twice faw it performed,
afllires us, that inftead of appearing to be a real
miracle, he thought it one of the mofl bungling
tricks, that he had ever feen [z].
Mahillon^s account of the faft feems to folve .
It very naturally, without the help of a mira-
cle [(^] : for during the time that a Mafs or two
are celebrated in the Church, the other priefls
are tampering with this /)^/W of blood, which is
fufpended all the while in fuch afituation-, that as
foon as any -part of it begins to melt by the heat of
their hands, or other management, it drops of courfe
into the lower fide of the glafs which is empty;
upon the firfh difcovery of which, the miracle is
proclaimed aloud, to the great joy and edifica'
tion of the people.
But by what way foever it be effedled, it Is
plainly nothing elfe, but the copy of an old cheat
of the: fame kind, tranfafted near the fame place,
which Horace makes himfelf merry with in his
journey to Brundufium \ telling us, how the
priefts would have impofed upon him and his
Ji-rends, at a town called Gnatia, by perfuading
them, that the Frankincenfe in the temple ufed to
[z] Addifon's Trav. at Naples.
[a] Ad prasfentiam capitis coUiquifieri videtur, ampulla
ea parte, qua fanguis, naturaliter in fubjedlam ampullse
partem cadere debet, fufpensa ; miffa interim una dua?ve,
^um fanguis decidat, celebrantur. Mabill, Iter, Ital. p. io6.
dijfolve
A Letter from Rome. 15^^
dijjolve and melt miraculoujly of itfelf^ without the
help of fire [b\
In the Cathedral Church of Ravenna, I faw in
Mofaic wcrk the piftures of thofe Archhifljops of
the place, who, as all their hiftorians afHrm [<:],
were chofen for feveral ages fucceflively by the
fpecial defignation of the Holy Ghofi, who, in a
full affembly of the Clergy and People, ufed to