Confession before Communion was not expressed so that by this people seemed to be set at Liberty from that Obligation and it was said that what he advised with relation to a Spiritual Guide lookt rather like the taking some general Directions and Council from ones Priest than the coming alwayes to him as the Minister of the Sacrament of Pennance before every Communion and to support this Imputation it was said that all of that Cabale had set down this for a Rule by which they conducted their Penitents that they might come to the Sacrament when they found themselves out of the state of Mortal sin without going at every time to Confession but I will not inlarge further upon the matters of Doctrine or Devotion in which you may think that I have dwelt too long for a man of my Breeding and Profession and I should think so my self if I were not consining my self exactly to the Memorials and Informations that I received at Rome You will see by the Articles objected to the Quietists and censured by one of the Inquisition which I send you with this Letter what are all the other points that are laid to their charge Only I must advertise you of one thing that their Friends at Rome say that a great many of these Articles are only the Calumnies of their Enemies and that they are disowned by them but that they have fastned these things on them to render them odious and to make them suffer with the less Pitty which is the putting in practice the same Maximes which we object to their Predecessors who condemned the Waldenses and Albigenses of a great many Errors of which they alwayes protested themselves Innocent yet the Accusing them of those horrid Opinions and Practices prevailed upon the Simplicity and Credulity of the Age to animate them with all the Degrees of Rage against a Sect of men that were set forth as Monsters the same Maximes and Politicks are still imputed and perhaps not without reason to that severe Court which if you believe many has as little regard to Justice as it has to Mercy Some have carried their Jealousies so far against the Quietists as to compare their Maxims to those of Socrates his School and his Followers after his death when they saw what his Freedom in speaking openly against the establisht Religion had cost him they resolved to comply with the received Customs in their exteriour and not to communicate their Philosophy to the Vulgar nor even to their Disciples till they had prepared them well to it by training them long in the precepts of Vertue which they called the Purgative State and when men were well tried and exercised in this then they communicated to them their sublimer Secrets the meaning of all which was in short that they would not discover their Opinions in those points that were contrary to the received Religion and to the publick Rites to any but to those of whom they were well assured that they would not betray them and therefore they satisfied themselves with having true and just notions of things but they practised outwardly as the Rabble did They thought it was no great matter what Opinions were entertained by them and that none but men of Noble and elevated Tempers deserved that such sublime Truths should be communicated to them and that the herd of the Vulgar neither were worthy nor capable of Truth which is too pure and too high a thing for such mean and base minds The Affinity of the matter makes me remember a conversation that I once had with one of the wittiest Clergy-men of France who is likewise esteemed one of the Learnedst Men in it He said The World could not bear a Religion calculated only for Philosophers The people did not know what it was to think and to govern themselves by the Impressions that abstracted thoughts made on their minds they must have outward things to strike upon their senses and Imaginations to amuse to terrify and to excite them so legends dreadful stories and a pompous Worship were necessary to make the Impressions of Religion go deep into such course souls for a Lancet said he can open a vein but an Axe must fell down a Tree so he concluded that the Reformation had reduced the Christian Religion to such severe terms that among us it was only a Religion for Philosophers and since few were capable of that strength of thought he concluded that if the Church of Rome had perhaps too much of this exteriour pomp those of the Reformation had stript it too much and had not left enough of garnishing and of the bells and feathers for amusing the rable The speculation seems pretty enough if Religion were to be considered only as a contrivance of ours to be fitted by us to the tempers and humours of People and not as a Body of Divine Truths that are conveyed to us from heaven Thus was Molinos's method censured or approved in Rome according to the different Apprehensions and Interests of those that made Reflections upon it But the Iesuites finding they were not so omnipotent in this Pontificate as they have been formerly resolved to carry their point another way I need not tell you how great an Ascendant F. la Chaise has gained over that Monarch that has been so long the terrour of Europe and how much all the Order is now in the Interests of France The Zeal with which that King has been extirpating Heresy Furnishes them with abundance of matter for high Panegyricks since that which in the opinion of many will pass down to posterity for the lasting reproach of a Reign which in its former parts has seemed to approach even to Augustus's Glory but has received in this a stain which with Indifferent men passes for a blind poor-spirited and furious Bigottry and is represented by Protestants as a complication of as much Treachery and Cruelty as the World ever saw yet among the bigots it is set forth as the brightest side of that Glorious Reign and therefore it has been often cited by them with relation to the cold correspondence that is observed to be between the Courts of Rome and that at Versailles that nothing was more Incongruous than to see the Head of the Church dispute so obstinatly with its Eldest son such a trifle as the matter of the Regale and that with so much eagerness and that he shew'd so little regard to so great a Monarch that seemed to sacrifice all his own Interests to those of his Religion It is believed that the Iesuits at Rome proposed the matter of Molinos to F. la Chaise as a fit reproach to be made to the Pope in that Kings name that while he himself was Imploying all possible means to extirpate Heresy out of his Dominions The Pope was cherishing it in his own Palace and that while the Pope pretended to such an unyielding Zeal for the Rights of the Church he was entertaining a person who was corrupting the doctrine
all of Want and the other has a kind sun long and happy Summers and mild Winters a fruitful and rich soil and every thing that the Inhabitants can wish for on Natures part to render them the Envy of the World whereas they are become the Scorn and contempt of all that see them And as much as the Dutch seem to have acted in spite of Nature on the one hand in rendring themselves much more considerable than she has Intended they should be so the Government of Italy seems to have reversed the design of Nature as much on the other hand by reducing the Inhabitants to such a degree of Misery in spite of all her Bounty upon this subject the Italians will talk more freely than upon matters of Religion and do not stick to say that it flows from the share that PRIESTS have in the Government and that not only in the Popes Territory but in all the other Courts of Italy where they have the main stroke They will tell you that Priests have not Souls big enough nor tender enough for Government they have both a narrowness of spirit and a sourness of mind that does not agree with the Principles of human Society Their having so short and so uncertain a time of governing makes them think only on the present so that they do not carry their prospect to the Happiness of or misery that must be the consequences of what they do at any considerable distance of time nor have they those Compassions for the Miserable with which wise Governours ought to temper all their Counsells for a stern sourness of temper and an unrelenting hardness of heart seems to belong to all that sort of men in Italy Whatsoever advances their present Interests and inriches their families is preferred to all wise great or generous councells Now tho the Natives dare not carry this matter further yet a stranger that thinks more freely and that has examined matters of Religion in a more Inquisitive manner sees plainly that all these errors in Government are the effects of their Religion and of that authority which they believe is lodged in the Pope chiefly and of which every Priest has so considerable a share that he is easily able to make himself master of every mans Conscience that lets him into it and that believes those three great branches of their power that they can pardon their sins make their God and secure them both from Hell and Purgatory These are things of such a mighty operation that if it is not easy to imagine how they should be so easily believed yet supposing once the belief of them all other things flow very naturally from thence men are not convinced of these errors till it is too late to come and undeceive others It is true many of the Italians believe these things as little as we do yet this is in them rather an effect of a loose and libertine temper than of study and enquiry in a Countrey where not only Heretical books would endanger a man but the bare reading even of a Latin New Testament would give some suspition But the thinking men among them are led to doubt of all things rather from a principle of Atheism than of searching into matters of Controversy the one is much less dangerous there than the other would be And indeed as soon as a man becomes a little familiar with any of the men of freer thoughts here he will soon see that the belief of their Religion has very little power over many of those who are the most zealous to support it only because their Interest determins them When a man has lived some time at Rome and has known a little of the Mysteries of the Conclave with the Character both of the present and the late Popes particularly the weakness and Ignorance of him that now reigns who does not so much as understand Latin when a man sees how matters are carried in that Court what are the Maximes they go by and the Methods that they take when he sees what a sort of men the Cardinals are men indeed of great Civility and of much Craft but as to the matters of Religion men of an equal sise both of Ignorance and Indifference when a man sees how all preferments are obtained but chiefly how the purple is given and how men rise up to the Triple Crown when I say a man has seen and observed all this a little he cannot wonder enough at the Character that so great a part of the World sets on that Court. The plain and simple Arguments of Common sense work so strong that Transubstantiation it self is not harder to be believed than that this man is Christs Vicar a man of Infallibility and the source or channel at least of divine truth So that a man that has given himself the opportunities of observing these matters Critically will feel a persuasion of the falsehood of those pretensions formed so deep in him that all the Sophistry of Argument will never be able to overthrow it for the plain sense of what he has seen will apparently discover the delusion of those Reasons which perhaps he is not learned enough to answer for let men say what they will it is no easy matter to believe in a Contradiction to the clear Evidence of sence and I cannot make my self so much as doubt but that as Cato was wont to wonder how it came that every one of the Heathen Priests did not laugh when he saw another of the Trade so the Cardinals when they look on one another and a Pope even as Ignorant a one as the present Pope is when he receives the submissions that are offered him by all who are of that Communion must laugh within himself when he sees how lucky that Imposture is which has subdued the World into so much respect for him and to so great a dependance on him A man who sees all these things upon the place and is of an Age capable of making solid Reflections and has a due portion of Learning must return amased not so much at those who being already under the Yoke have neither knowledge nor courage enough to shake it off nor at those who go into it because they find their account in it and so hope to have a good share of the spoil as at those who have shaken off the Yoke and have got into more Liberty and more Knowledg and feel the happy Influence of their deliverance even in their Civil Liberties and other Temporal Concerns if they should ever come so much as to deliberate whether they ought to return and serve their old and severe Masters or not For my part I speak freely to you that I could sooner bring my mind to believe that there is no such thing as Instituted Religion and that it is enough for men to be just and honest civil and obliging and to have a general reverence for the Deity than ever to think that such Stuff as the men
THREE LETTERS Concerning the Present State OF ITALY Written in the Year 1687. I. Relating to the Affair of MOLINOS and the QUIETISTS II. Relating to the INQUISITION and the State of Religion III. Relating to the Policy and Interests of some of the States of ITALY Being A SUPPLEMENT to Dr. BURNETS LETTERS Printed in the Year 1688. A TABLE Of the Contents of the Three LETTERS The first Letter THE curiosity which Dr. Burnets Letters had excited of knowing more concerning the Quietists was the motives to this Author's further Enquiry about them p. 1 2. with what difficulty things before the Inquisition come to be known and with how much fear and reserve the Italians talk of them especially to Hereticks p. 2 3. The amasing Wealth of the Churches Palaces and Convents in Rome and thro all Italy and yet the astonishing Poverty of the Inhabitants p. 4. A comparison between the Italians upon the one hand and the English and Dutch on the other hand p. 4 5. That the poverty of the people in Italy ariseth from the Government 's being in the hands of Priests and from the ascendancy which the principles of their Religion give them over mens consciences p. 6 7. How little many of the Italians believe the chief Doctrines of their Church and what temptation their Religion lay's them under to Atheism ibid. That the Mysteries of the Conclave the qualifications of the Cardinal 's the characters of the late Popes particularly of the present and the manner how the Purple and the Triple Crown are obtained are evidences that the Romish Church is not what she pretends to be p. 8 9. That tho they who are under the yoak may be willing to continue in Slavery yet 't is matter of amasement that such who are delivered from Papal Bondage should submit again unto it p. 9 10. Whence it was that so many of all ranks came to be so favourable to Molinos and upon what grounds his opinions came to be so universally received p. 11 12. A Character of Molinos himself with an account of the chief Authors of the Mystical Divinity together with a representation of it and why the followers of Molinos are stiled Quietists and what different Ends men might have in falling in with this new Method p. 12 to 19. When Molinos's Book called il Guiâ—a Spirituale was first published and with whose approbations and how much it was esteemed p. 19 20. The great reputation he grew into especially with which of the Cardinals p. 20 21. The friendship betwixt Card. d'Estrée and him and the value that the present Pope had for him and the encouragement he gave to his design p. 21 22. Of a French Book written on the Subject of Mystical Divinity and by whose means and of its being Translated into Italian p. 22 23. Of the several Writings of Petrucci in relation to a contemplative State with their character ibid. The Jesuites and Dominicans allarmed at the progress of Quietism and why ibid. Books writ by the Society against Molinos and his Method and the way that the Jesuite Segueri took to decry it p. 24. That the matter being brought before the Inquisition the Jesuites were accounted accusers with an account of what became of F. Martin Esparsa a Jesuite who had approved Molinos's Book p. 25. Of Molinos and Petrucci their coming off justified and that their Books were approved and the Answers of the Jesuites censured as scandalous p. 26. The Popes advancing Petrucci to be Bishop of Jâ—ssi and how he behaved himself in his Bishoprick ibid. How the party grew in credit and in number with a short character of them ibid. p. 27. Of the Jesuites persevering to calumniate them and in what Methods and of the care that Molino took to desend himself and of his writing in order thereunto a Treatise of Frequent and dayly Communion p. 28. An account of that Book and with whose approbations it was published and of the Answers given therein to some of Mr. Arnauâ—'s Objections against Frequent Communion p. 28 29. Of the offence taken at that Book and for what and how the Quietists are in many things calumniated p. 30. That their Maxims are resembled to those of Socrates his School and wherein p. 31 32. A conversation which the Author had with a French Clergy-man with the reasons given by that person why Worship ought to be Pompous c. p. 33. The Jesuites upon not being able to ruin Molinos by their influence upon the Pope apply themselves by means of F. la Chaise to the French King. p. 3â— The ascendant they have over that Monarch with a just censure of the Persecution exercised in France ibid. The Popes disputing the Regale with the French King and at the same time favouring Molinos laid hold of in France to reproach the Pope and to crush the Quietists p. 34. 35. A Report at Rome of Cardinal d'Estrees betraying Molinos by informing the Inquisition of many particulars against him A Relation of that whole Story of Molinos's being thereupon clapt up p. 35 36 37 38 The imprisonment of Count Vespiniani and his Lady and how they came to be Released upon Bail ' p. 38 3 Of the Popes being suspected of Heresie and his being Examined by the Inquisition p. 39. How they endeavour to avoid the Reflection that this exposeth the Papal Infallibility unto p. 40. Of a Circular Letter sent by the Inquisition to Cardinal Cibo p. â—1 42 43. That several Cardinals are apprehensive of a Storm from the Inquisition and who they are A Character of Don Liviâ— the Popes Nephew and how jealous he is of falling into the hands of the Inquisitors p. 44. Of the imprisonment of F. Appiani a Jesuite and the mortification it gave the Society with a Reflection upon the Conduct of the Society p. 45. A remarkable Story of F. Cann an English Jesuite in Rome p. 46 47. A character of Cardinal Howard and of his being shut out of all the Councils of the E. of Castâ—emâ—n during his Embassay at Rome with an account of the rude and insolent carriage of F. Morgan towards the Cardinal p. 47 48. The great concern expressed for those in the Inquisition by their friends with the impression it makes upon the Inquisitors and their behaviour thro the apprehension they have of it p. 48 49. That the Pope and Cardinal Cibo are much troubled to see this matter gone so far and that Cardinal Petrucci is still in the Popes favour ibid. The great number of the Regulars in Rome and in Naples who being generally against the Quietists they are made a Sacrifice to their resentment p. 49. Nineteen Propositions pretended to be extracted out of the Writings and Doctrines of the Quietists with a Censure of them published by Order of the Inquisition p. 50. The Circular Letter both in Italian and in English p. 51 52 53 54. The Censure of the Opinions of the Quietists in Italian and in English with some
Remarks upon it shewing that many things charged upon them are misrepresented that other things are weakly and ridiculously resuted that several absurdities are therein obtruded upon the world for Truths and that the Adoration of Images which the Papists in England and France do disclaim is in the Censure justified and recommended p. 55. to p. 88. Of the Condemnation of Molinos of the rage expressed by many of the People against him and of the hatred declared upon this occasion against the present Pontificate with a character of it and an account of the Gentlness of the Inquisition to many of Molinos's followers and what Reflections wise men make thereupon p. 89 90 91. The whole Ceremony at the Minerva the day that Molinos was brought forth to abjure with a Relation of some things he said and of his deportment p. 92 93 94. The mildness of the Punishment inflicted upon him ibid. Of the boldness of one of his followers before the Inquisition and how slightly he came off p. 94. Of the vast correspondence which Molinos had in all places and that most of the condemned Articles are but an invidious Aggravating of the Doctrine of Predestination and of Efficacious Grace ibid p. 95. The Second LETTER THE Author's Capacity for giving the following Relation thro having resided so long in Rome and in Italy p. 96. Some Reflections upon the study of Manuscripts Medals Inscriptions and of Religion and Politicks p. 97 98. A commendation of Dr. Burnets Letters and that most which the Author had observed is already related there and that what is here published referreth either to places which the Dr. did not see or to matters which his short stay in Italy did not allow him to enquire after ibid. Of a Crucifix shut up in the Inquisition the occasion of it with several Reflections on the Bigotry Superstition and Idolatry of the Papists especially of the Italians p. 99 100 101. Of the Plague in S. Gregory the Great 's time ibid. Of a Stone in the Chappel of Ara Coeli pretended to have the impression of an Angel's Foot upon it and therefore worshipped by the people but is now made Prisoner in the Inquisition to keep the Crucifix company p. 102 103. The story of Sr. Burrhi a Millanese Gentleman and a Chymist who becoming suspected by the Priests was brought into the Inquisition and getting off at that time was afterwards apprehended and being accused of many Errors was made to abjure and confined to a perpetual Imprisonment c. p. 103 104 105. Of the scandalous and lascivous Pictures that are in many Churches of Italy and that their most celebrated Madonna 's have been the Mistresses of the great Painters with a Relation of an Intrigue between a Frier and a Nun p. 106 107. Of their sottish and Idolatrous Representations of the Trinity ibid. Of the Picture of the B. Virgin with the Order of the Capuchins under her Petticoat ibid. How Learning came to flourish so much in the last Age and to decay so greatly in this and of the great Masters of painting that Italy produced in the former Century p. 108 109 110. Of the Picture of the Virgin in the Annunciata in Florence which they pretend to have been finished by an Angel p. 110. The Fable of Loretto and what exceptions the Author made to it in a Conversation and how the Italians justify the Devotion of the people upon a supposition that the whole story is a Fiction p. 111 112. Of a Conference between an Abbot and an English Clergy-man of the difference between the two Churches p. 112 113. That the Conversion of Nations is no further accounted of at Rome than as it brings profit to the Datary and the reason why so little respect was had to the English Ambassador and to every thing he proposed p. 113. What retarded the Promotion of the Card. d'Esté so long with a Relation how the late Card. d'Esté Protector of the French Nation at Rome hector'd Pope Alexander VII p. 114. Of the scandalous imposture of the Blood of St. January at Naples p. 115. To what excessive height the Priests carry the Ecclesiastical Immunities and in what danger the General of the Horse at Naples was of being Excommunicated p. 116 117. A remarkable story how far the Immunities of the Clergy have been pusht in the Dukedom of Florence for the saving of a Priest with a character of the present Duke p. 117 118. The present Vice-Roy of Naples commended for supporting the Secular Tribunal against the Invasions of the Ecclesiastical Court with a Relation of the ingenuous and publick Affront he put upon an Auditor of the Nuncio's and how ill it was resented at Rome p. 118 119 120. Of the difference betwixt the Pope and the French King about the Regale with a further character of the Pope p. 120 121. What improvement the Jansenists made of the difference p. 121 122. Concerning the business of the Franchises and that the Pope seems resolved to maintain his late Bull and how it may prove fatal to himself and the Papal Sea to contend that matter with the French King p. 123. Of the way that this Pope treats Ambassadors and of an Answer he gave to the English Ambassador upon his threatning to leave Rome that shew'd the little Respect he had either for him or his Master p. 124. How the present Pope conducts his Revenue that being the only thing he understands Of his Retrenching both all Expences and the publick Charities and that he must have a vast Treasure p. 124. The inducement to the making so many Cardinals in the last Promotion And the Aversion which Card. Taia and Card. Ricci expressed to the Purple in the Promotion that was made five year ago p. 125. How Cardinal Farnese that was afterwards Paull III. and who raised the Family of Parma came to be created Cardinal by Alexander VI. with an account in what manner the Promotion of Cardinals is carried and how the Wench was too crafty both for that lewd Pope and for his Son Caesar Borgia p. 126 127 128. Of the Aversion which this Pope has to the Jesuites and that the English Ambassador's Resigning himself to their conduct was the reason of the cold usage he met with at Rome p. 129. What character all wise and indifferent Italians fasten upon those of that Society and their concluding from the credit which they have in England that the Roman Catholick Religion must needs miscarry there ibid. p. 130. The Romantick Letters which the Jesuites write to Rome out of England and what just discredit this puts upon all that they write out of the Indies and other remote Countreys ibid. Of the Letter lately printed that was wrote by a Jesuite of Liege to those at Friburg concerning the present state of Popery in England that it is a true and Authentick Letter p. 130 131. Of two things peculiar to this Order which render it formidable how independent the General
of Messina wherein they said many things reslective on the Honour Veracity and Iustice of the French King and his Ministers and by what Arguments they justified the Revolt of their Town from the Spaniard p. 185 186 187. Of the method they use in preparing Vitriol in the Sulfatara near Puzzolo Of a little Town in the Appenins called Norcia which tho in the Popes Territories may be accounted a Common-wealth and which is so jealous of all Priests obtaining any share in their Government that they will admit none into Magistracy who can either read or write p. 189 190. Of the Mortification which one of the Magistrates put upon an Auditor who was a Church-man by gelding him for attempting to debauch his wife with a pleasant account how one that hath been so treated may continue capable to say Mass ibid. p. 191. The Stationer to the Reader I Can give no other account of these Letters but that they were communicated to me by a person of known Integrity who assured me that he who made these Observations is a man of great vertue and considerably learned who has been long and much in Italy who is both capable of looking narrowly into matters and is of such severe morals that one may safely depend on all he says This was enough for me so without making any further enquiry or knowing any thing of the Author I have set about the printing of them VALE A LETTER Writ from ROME To one in Holland concerning the QUIETISTS SIR YOur desire of being informed particularly by me of the state of Religion and Learning in Italy and chiefly here at Rome has quickned my curiosity and has set an edge upon a humour that is of it self Inquisitive enough and tho I am not so much in loâ—â— with writing as to delight in transmitting you long Letters yet I find I have matter at present for a very long one chiefly in that which relates to the Quietists for you observe right that the short hints that Dr. Burnet gave of their matters in his Letters did rather increase the curiosity of the English than satisfy it He told as much as was generally known in Rome at that time concerning them but as a longer stay might have discovered more particulars to him so there have fallen out since that time such new and surprising accidents that there is not more hearkning after new Evidence in England upon the breaking out of Plots than there was at Rome upon the Imprisonment of so great a number of persons in February and March last the number alone of 200 persons was enough to raise a great curiosity but this was much encreased by the quality of the persons that were clapt up who were both for Rank for Learning and for Piety the most esteemed of any in Rome So I was pusht on by my own Inclinations as well as by your Entreaties to take all the pains that was possible for me to be well Informed of this matter The particular Application with which I had read some of the Books of Devotion writ in this method and the pleasure and I hope profit that I had found in it made me still the more earnest to know this matter to the bottom It is true it was hard to find it out for those who have been in Rome know with how much caution all people there talk of matters that are before the Inquisition those are like the Secrets of state elsewhere of which a man cannot talk much without incurring some Inconvenience and there is no Inconvenience that is more terrible at Rome than the falling into the hands of the Inquisitors for besides the Danger that a man runs if the suspitions are well founded the least ill effect that this must have is the cutting off all a mans hopes of Preferment for what a Suspition of High Treason is elsewhere the Suspition of Heresy is at Rome and where there are many Pretenders and there is so much to be expected you may imagine that Hope and Fear working at the same time so powerfully it must be very hard to ingage such persons as probably know the secret of things to trust themselves upon so tender a point to strangers The truth is Learning is so low in Italy and the Opinion that they have of the Learning of Strangers chiefly of Hereticks is so high that they do not willingly enter either on Subjects of Learning or of Religion with them and on the other hand a Stranger and a Heretick who is considered as a Spye or a fair Enemy at best will not find it convenient to thrust on such subjects of conversation as are tender and suspitious All this is to prepare you for a relation which you will perhaps think defective yet is as full a I could possibly gather out of all the Hints and Informations that some moneths stay at Rome procured me The first thing that surprises a stranger in Rome is the very unequal mixture of Wealth and Poverty that he sees here as well as in all the parts of Italy yet it is more conspicuous here than elsewhere for as the Wealth of the Churches Palaces and Convents is astonishing so the Poverty of the Inhabitants and the meanness of the ordinary Buildings is extremely unsuteable to the magnificence of the other When a man sees what Italy was an Age or two ago not to go back so far as to remember what Rome was once he can hardly imagin how such a fall such a dispeopling and such a poverty could befall a Nation and Climate that Nature has made to be one of the richest of the world or of Europe at least if the PRIESTS had not at the same time a secret to make the Natives miserable in spite of all that Abundance with which Nature has furnished them It were not able to withstand even an ordinary Enemy and it can scarce support it self Those Italians that have seen the Wealth and Abundance that is in England and Holland tho their Sun is less favorable and their Climate is more unhappy and that come home so see their Towns deserted and their Inhabitants in Raggs speak of this sometimes with an Indignation that is too sensible to be at all times kept within bounds They speak of the difference betweeen Holland and Italy like men affected when they compared the two soils and Climates together The one is a soil divided between sand and turff preserved from the Innudations of Land-floods and the overflowing of the sea at a vast Charge suffering often such losses as would ruin other states and paying great and constant Impositions and yet with all these Inconveniences and all the disadvantages of a feeble sun a stagnating and phlegmatick Air violent Colds and moderate or at least very shorts Heats this Countrey is full of Wealth and People and there is in it such an abundance of great Towns and considerable villages and in all these there appear so many marks of plenty and none at
to all suteable Acts this they say is dry and without motion it is a Force which the Reason puts upon the Will and tho upon a great Variety of Motives and many Meditations upon them the mind goes thro a great many Performances of Devotion yet this is still a Force put upon the will. So they reckon that the third and highest state is the Contemplative in which the Will is so united to God and overcome by that Union that in one single Act of Contemplation it adores God it loves him and resigns it self up to him and without wearying itself with a dry multiplicity of Acts it feels in one Act of Faith more force than a whole day of Meditation can produce In this they say that a true Contemplative Man feels a secret Ioy in God and an acquiescing in his Will in which the true elevation of Devotion lies and which is far above either the heats of Fancy which accompany the first state or the Subtilty of Meditation that belongs to the second state and they say that the perfection of a Contemplative state above the others appears in this that wheras all men are not capable of forming lively Imaginations or of a fruitful Invention yet every man is capable of the simplicity of contemplation which is nothing but the silent and humble adoration of God that arises out of a pure and quiet mind But because all this may appear a little Intricate I shall illustratte it by a similitude which will make the difference of those three states more sensible 1. A man that sees the exteriour of another with whom he has no acquaintance and is much taken with his face shape quality and meen and this has a blind prevention in his favour and a sort of a feeble kindness for him may be compared to him whose Devotion consists in lively Imaginations and tender Impressions on his lower and sensible Powers 2. A man that upon an acquaintance with another sees a great many reasons to value and esteem both his parts and his Vertues yet in all this he feels no inward Charm that overcomes him and knits his soul to the other so that how high soever the esteem may be yet it is cold and dry and does not affect his heart much may be compared to one whose Devotion consists in many Acts and much Meditation But 3dly when a man enters into an entire friendship with another then one single Thought of his Friend affects him more tenderly than all that variety of reflections which may arise in his mind where this Union is not felt And thus they explain the sublime state of Contemplation And they reckon that all the common methods of Devotion ought to be considered only as steps to raise men up to this state when men rest and continue in them they are but dead and lifeless Forms and if they rise above them they become Cloggs and Hindrances which amuse them with many dry Performances in which those who are of a higher Dispensation will feel no pleasure nor advantage Therefore the use of the Rosary the daily repeating the Breviary together with the common Devotions to the Saints are generally laid aside by those who rise up to the Contemplative State and the chief business to which they apply themselves is to keep their Minds in an inward Calm and Quiet that so they may in silence form simple Acts of Faith and feel those inward Motions and Directions which they believe follow all those who rise up to this Elevation But because a man may be much deceived in those Inspirations therefore they recommend to all who enter into this method above all other things the choice of a Spiritual Guide who has a right sense and a true tast of those matters and is by Consequence a Competent Judge in them This is all that I will lay before you in general for giving you some tast of Molinos's Methods and by this you will both see why his Followers are called QUIETISTS and why his Book is Entitled il Gui. da Spiritualc But if you Intend to Inform your self more particularly of this matter you must seek for it either in the Authors that I have already mentioned or in those of which I am to give you some account in the â—equel of this Letter Molinos having it seems drunk in the principles of the Contemplative Devotion in Spain where the great Veneration that is payed to S. Teresa gives it much reputation he brought over with him to Italy a great Zeal for propagating it He came and setled at Rome where he writ his Book and entred into a great commerce with the men of the best Apprehensions and the most Elevated thoughts that he found there All that seemed to concur with him in his design for setting on foot this sublimer way were not perhaps animated with the same principles Some designed sincerly to elevate the World above those poor and trifling Superstitions that are so much in vogue among all the Bigots of the Church of Rome but more particularly in Spain and Italy and which are so much set on by almost all the Regulars who seem to place Religion chiefly in the exact performing of them It was thought that others entred into the design upon more Indirect motives Some perhaps from the aversion that they bore the Regulars were disposed to entertain every thing that might lead mens Devotions into other Channells and to a conduct different from that prescribed by Friers and Iesuites Some perhaps had understandings good enough to see the necessâ—ty of correcting many things in their Worship which yet they durâ—t not attack as simply unlawful so that it might appear more safe to expose these things to the Contempt of the World by pretending to raise men far above them and thus they might have hoped to have Introduced a Reformation of many Abuses without seeming to do it In fine some who seemed to enter into this matter were men that aspired to fame and hoped by this means to raise a Name to themselves and to have a Party that should depend upon them for in such great numbers as seemed to imbark in this design it is not to be imagined that all were acted by the same motives and that every man had as good Intentions as it is probable Molinos himself had In the year 1675. his Book was first published with five Approbations before it One of these was by the Archbishop of Rheggio another was by the General of the Franciscans who was likewise one of the Qualificators of the Inquisition another was by Fa. Martin de Esparsa a Jesuit that had been Divinity Professor both at Salamanca and at Rome and was at that time a Qualificator of the Inquisition As for the rest I refer you to the Book it self The Book was no sooner printed than it was much read and highly esteemed both in Italy and Spain It was considered as a Book writ with much Clearness and great simplicity and
himself whereas he maintains that in this Quiet the Soul is passive and as it were in a rapture and that she could not raise her self to it but that it was an Immediat and Extraordinary Favour which was only to be expected from God and which an humble mind could not so much as ask of him These Disputes raised so much noise in Rome that the Inquisition took Notice of the whole matter Molinos and his Book and F. Petrucci's Treatises and Letters were brought under a second and severer Examination and here the Iesuites were considered as the Accusers It is true one of the Society as was formerly told had approved Molinos's Book but they took care that he should be no more seen at Rome for he was sent away and it is not known whether it is generally believed that he is shut up within Four Walls but what truth soever may be in that he is no more visible so careful are they to have all their Order speak the same Language and if any speak in a different stile from the rest they at least take care that he shall speak no more yet in this Examen that was made both Molinos and Petrucci justified themselves so well that their Books were again approved and the Answers which the Iesuites had writ were censured as scandalous and in this matter Petrucci behaved himself so signally well that it raised not only the Credit of the Cause but his own Reputation so much that soon after he was made Bishop of Iessi which was a new Declaration that the Pope made in their Favours their Books were now more esteemed than ever their Method was more followed and the Novelty of it the opposition made to it by a Society that his rendred it self odious to all the World and the new Approbation that was given to it after so vigorous an Accusation did all contribute to raise the Credit and to encrease the Numbers of the Party F. Petrucci's behaviour in his Bishoprick contributed to raise his Reputation still higher so that his Enemy's were willing to give him no more Disturbance and indeed there was less occasion given for Censure by his Writings than by Molino's little Book whose succinctness made that some Passages were not so fully nor so cautiously expressed but that there was room for making Exceptions to them on the other hand Petrucci was rather excessively tedious so that he had so fully explained himself that he very easily cleared some small difficulties that were made upon some of his Letters In short every body was that thought either sincerely devout or that at least affected the Reputation of it came to be reckoned among the Quietists and if these persons were observed to become more strict in their Lives more retired and serious in their mental Devotions yet there appeared less Zeal in their whole deportment as to the exteriour parts of the Religion of that Church They were not so assiduous at Mass nor so earnest to procure Masses to be said for their Friends nor were they so frequently either at Confession or in Processions so that the Trade of those that live by these things was sensibly sunk and tho the new Approbation that was given to Molinos's Book by the Inquisition stopt the Mouths of his Enemies so that they could no more complain of it yet they did not cease to scatter about Surmises of all that sort of men as of a Cabale that would have dangerous consequences they remembred the story of the Illuminated Men of Spain and said here was a Spawn of the same Sect they insinuated that they had ill Designs and profound Secrets among them that these were in their Hearts Enemies to the Christian Religion and that under a pretence of raising men to a most sublime strain of Devotion they intended to wear out of their minds the sense of the Death and Sacrifice of Christ and of the other Mysteries of Christianity and because Molinos was by his birth a Spaniard it has been given out of late that perhaps he was descended of a Iewish or Mahometan Race and that he might carry in his Blood or in his first Education some Seeds of those Religions which he has since cultivated with no less Art than Zeal yet this last Calumny has gained but little Credit at Rome tho it is said that an Order has been sent to examine the Registers of the Baptism in the place of his Birth to see if his Name is to be found in it or not Thus he saw himself attacked with great vigour and with an unrelenting Malice He took as much care as was possible to prevent or to shake off these Imputations for he writ a Treatise of frequent and dayly Communion which was likewise approved by some of the most learned of the Regulars at Rome among whom one is Martinez a Iesuite the Senior Divinity Reader in their Colledge at Rome This was printed with his Spiritual Guide in the year 1675. and in the Preface he protests that he had not writ it with any design to engage himself into matters of Controversy but that it was drawn from him by the most earnest Solicitations of some Zealous Persons In it he pressed a daily Communion by a vast number of Passages that he cited both out of the Ancient Fathers and the Schoolmen yet he qualified this and all his other directions in the matters of Devotion by that which he constantly repeats which is the necessity of being conducted in all things by a Spiritual Guide whether he intended to soften the aversion that the Iesuites had to him by refuting some parts of Mr. Arnaud's famous Book of Frequent Communion or not I cannot tell but in this Discourse he answers some of the Objections that Mr. Arnaud had made to Frequent Communion and in particular to that which he makes one main ground of restraining men from it which was the obliging them to go thro with their Penitence and Mortifications before they were admitted to the Sacrament whereas Molinos makes the being free of Moral Sin the only necessary qualification In this Discourse one sees more of a heated Eloquence than of severe or solid Reasoning yet it presses the point of daily Communion and of an inward application of Soul to Iesus Christ and to his Death so vehemently that it might have been hoped that this should have put an end to those Surmises that had been thrown out to defame him as if he had designed to lay aside the Humanity of our Saviour by his way of Devotion but there is no cure for Jealousy especially when Malice and Interest are at bottom so new matter was found for censure in this Discourse He had asserted that there was no other Preparation necessary but to be free of Mortal Sin so it was given out that he intended to lay aside Confession and tho he had advised the use of a Spiritual Guide in this as well as in all other things yet the necessity of
against him which as was believed precipitated his death tho he was then Fourscore But now I return to the present Pope for I have writ you a very loose sort of a Letter all made up of digressions His aversion to the Order of the Iesuites is very visible for he takes all occasions to mortify them and every thing that is proposed to him thrives the worse for their sakes if he believes they are concerned in it which was given by all at Rome as the true reason of the cold usage that the English Ambassadour found there Indeed the Pope is not singular in the hard thoughts that he has of that Order I never saw an Indifferent man in all Italy that was of another mind they do generally look upon them as a Covetous Fraudulent Intriguing and turbulent sort of people who can never be at quiet unless they reign who are men of no Morals that will stick at nothing that may raise the Wealth and Power of their Order and at Rome they do not stick to say that all the concerns of the Roman Catholick Religion must needs miscarry in England because the Iesuites are so much in credit there And indeed the Extravagantly vain Letters that they write to Rome out of England are such contextures of Legends that ever since I saw them I know what value I ought to put on their Letters that come from the Indies and other remote Countreys for when they take so great a Liberty when the Falsehood is so easily found out what must me think of the Relations that come from places at such a distance that they may lie with more assurance less hazard of discovery The Letter that was writ in February last from Liege to the Iesuites at Friburg of which so many Copies were given that it got to the Press at last was a good Instance of their Vanity and of the small regard that they have to a Prince that has as they give out so much for them Their representing the King as so concerned in the Interests of their Order that he espoused them all as if they were his own that he was now become a Son of the Society and that he was received into a communication of the Merits of the Order tho a share in their Treasure upon Earth were a much more considerable thing than of their Treasure that is Invisible Their setting out the Kings Zeal for their Religion in such high terms that they say he is resolved to die a Martyr rather than not to succeed in his design of changing the Religion and converting the Nation and this at a time when the King was declaring himself so much for Liberty of Conscience and their affirming that the King is become bigotted to so high a degree as to refuse to suffer a Priest to kneel down and do the duty of a Subject in kissing his Hand and to tell him that he himself ought rather to kneel down and to kiss his Hands all these are such Extravagant strains that by the boldness of them it is Evident that they were writ by a Iesuite and my Copy came to me from so good a hand and so near the source that how many Falsehoods soever may be in that Letter I can assure you it is no Imposture but was really writ by those of Liege In a word all the Romans have so very ill an Opinion of the Iesuits that as soon as any piece of Newes comes from England that is not favourable to their Affairs one finds all from the highest to the lowest agree in the same short reflection Thus it must ever be where the Iesuites have such a share in the Councils A man long practised in the Court of Rome told me it was impossible it could be otherwise for all the chief men of that Order are kept teaching in their Schools till they are almost forty years of age and by that means Pedantry a disputatious and Imperious humour and a peevish littleness of soul becomes natural to them so that an Eminent man here said to me It was Impossible that matters could go better than they did in England as long as the Morals and the Politicks of the Jesuites and the Vnderstandings and Courage of the Irish were so much relied on But besides all these General Considerations there are some things in the Constitution of the Order of the Iesuites that give those at Rome reason enough to be on their Guard against them There are two things peculiar to this Order that make it very formidable the one is that those who have made the fourth vow are capable of no Preferment unless it be to be Cardinals and then they are indeed capable of Bishopricks In most of the other Orders every man has his own private Interest and his particular views so that they are not always looking after the concerns of their Order But a Iesuite can receive no Honour but from his Order therefore he Consecrates himself to it and advances the Interests of the Society with all possible zeal knowing that there is no other way left him to advance his own Interests but this So that Hope being one of the great Springs of humane Nature a Iesuite who hopes for nothing but from his Order must be extreamly devoted to it Besides this a Iesuite fears nothing but from his Order They have not a Cardinal Protector as the other Orders have to whom an Appeal lies from the sentence of the General of the Order but the Iesuites are a body more shut up within themselves for the sentence of the General is definitive and can never be reviewed no Appeal lying from it whensoever a Pope comes that dares mortify them he will open a way for Appeals for till that is done the General of the Iesuites is the most Absolute and the most Arbitrary Soveraign that is in the World. All these things concur to Unite almost all the several Interests in Rome against this Society which yet is strong enough to support it self against them all they have the Mission generally in their hands for the Congregation de Propaganda payes a small pension of 20 Crowns to all the Secular Priests that are on the Mission whereas the Iesuites bear the expences of their own Missionaries to whom they allow an 100 Crowns a year so those of the Propaganda being willing to be eased of a charge accept of the Missionaries that the Iesuites offer them and they find their account in this Their Missionaries are powerfully recommended so they are quickly received into Families especially where there are yong children to be bred up or Estates to be managed for in these two lies their strength but they never forget their Order for which they are as so many Factors every where and they draw vast Presents from all places to the House that returns them their Appointments wheras the poor Secular Priest must make a shift to live out of the small allowance that he has from
the Congregation de Propaganda fide and out of what he can raise by his Masses Therefore there is nothing that they desire so much as to see Protestant States that give a Tolerance to Popery grow once so wise as to shut out all the Regulars and above all the Iesuites and to admit none but Secular Priests for the former as they are so many Agents to return all the wealth that they can possibly draw together to the house to which they belong so they are united together in one Body under a most strict Obedience to their General which may be as great a prejudice to the Peace and Security of a Countrey as the other is to its Wealth and Abundance on the other hand the Secular Priests are generally good-natured men who are only subject to their Bishop and that have no designs upon the Government nor the Concerns of any House that is in Forreign Parts lying upon them so that since those of that Communion have the full exercise and all the Consolation of their Religion from Secular Priests even those in Rome it self wonder at the Error of Protestant States who have not Learned long ago to make this difference in the Toleration that they allow And one that has been almost 50 years in the most refined practices of the Court of Rome said to me with a very sensible concern how happy would we here reckon our selves if we could have a Toleration of our Religion allowed in England tho it were with an Eternal Exclusion of all Regulars and Iesuites and added that if he saw good grounds for making it he himself would go and carry the Proposition to those of the Propaganda And now I am sure I have rambled over a great Variety of matter and have made a shift to bring in to one place or other of this Letter a great many particulars that I could have hardly brought out in an exactness of Method without a much greater compass of words and a greater stifness of form but I thought it was more natural and by consequence that it would be more acceptable to you to make them follow one another in an easy and unforced contexture I have discoursed all these matters often over and over again since I came into Italy but I have read very little concerning them therefore there may be many things here that I mention because they were new to me that perhaps are no newes to those that are much more Learned than my self I have told you all that I could gather upon these subjects from the wisest and worthiest men that I found here I have writ of all matters freely to you because I am in a Countrey where freedom of discourse in matters of State especially is practised in its utmost extent I have yet matter for another long letter in which the matters of Religion will have no share for I will end all these in this and therfore there is one piece of the Superstition of Lombardy that affected me too sensibly not to lead me to bestow a severe censure upon it I went through that Country in October and November and was often in great distress because it was not possible to find a Glass of Wine that could be drunk all being either dead or sour At Parma I waited on an Eminent Person and lamented to him the misery of Travallers since no Wine was to be found that could be drunk he told me the Natives felt this much more sensibly than Strangers did with whom it was soon over but they were condemned to suffer that every year and tho he himself had Vineyards that produced much more Wine than he could consume yet he could not be Master of a good Glass of Wine for a great many Months of the year since all the people were possessed with this Superstition that it was Indispensably necessary to mix it with Water in the Cask that by this means it drunk dead or sour for so great a part of the year and all that could be said could not beat this out of the heads of those that dressed their Wine but he added that the Priests who confirmed the vulgar in this Conceit had found a Device to excuse their own Wine from this hard fate for they said it must needs be kept unmixed since in the Sacrament the Wine must be pure and is then only to be mixed with Water and thus in all their Cellars good Wine is to be found where there is not a drop any where else that can be drunk one would think that this is to abuse the Weakness and Credulity of the People a little too grosly when they condemn all the laity to drink ill Wine whereas they themselves drink it pure which is felt more sensibly by the Laity than the depriving them of the Chalice and the engrossing it to the Priest in the Sacrament Yet the Excise that is laid on the Wine in Florence has taught the Inhabitants a point of Wisdom that those on the other side of the Appenins are not capable of for the Excise being raised upon all their Wine the People who have no mind to pay Excise for Water keep their Wine pure so perhaps some such severity in the Government in Lombardy may likewise reform them in this piece of absurd Superstition which I felt too sensibly with all the effects that naturally follow the drinking of sour Liquor not to Insist upon it with some more than ordinary concern But since I am upon the point of the Arts that the Convents have to live easy I will end this Letter with an account of a House that was very Extraordinary which I saw in my way to Italy thro Bavaria Etal an Abbey of Benedictines that by its foundation is bound only to maintain an Abbot and 25 Monks It was founded by Lewis Duke of Bavaria that was Emperour the building is not answerable to the Endowment which is so vast that they keep a stable of 150 horses which is indeed one of the best in Germany the horses are of great value and well kept they hunt perpetually and live in as great an abundance of all things as the Duke of Bavaria himself can do and yet these are Religious men that are dead to the World. I cannot forget to tell you a very beautifully diversified prospect that we had at Burgo a little Town in the hills of Trent as we lookt out at window We saw before us a lovely Meadow in all the Beauty and Pride of the Moneth of May a little beyond that was a rising Bank all covered over with Trees in their full verdure beyond that the ground rise higher and the Trees had not yet put out their leaves and things lookt dead and dry as after Harvest and beyond that there was a huge hill all covered on the top with snow so that here we saw in one prospect all the seasons of the year upon which one of the Company made this reflection that if any
Painter should in one Landskip mix all these things that were then in our eye he would be thought a man of an Irregular fancy whose designes did not agree with nature and yet we had them all then before us I will make no Excuses nor Compliments for those things do not mend matters and therefore I send you my Letter such as it is just as it has grown under my Pen and so Adieu POSTSCRIPT I find I have forgot to mention one very extravagant piece of Devotion to which I was a Witness at Rome on the 17 of Ianuary which is St. Anthonys day that was the great Father of the Monastick Orders whose Life is pretended to be writ by S. Athanase all Horses and other Beasts of Burden are believed to be in an especial manner under his Protection and the Monks of his Order have a House near St. Maria Maggiore thither all the Horses Mulets and Asses of Rome and all round the City are brought that day to the door of the Church where some Monks stand with a Broom in holy water and sprinkle it upon them all many Doggs and Lambs and other favorite Animals are also brought to share in this Aspersion which is believed to have a most special vertue the force of this hallowing is believed to be such that if any should fail to bring his Horses thither all the Neighbourhood would look on those that have no portion in it as accursed Animals upon whom some unlucky Accident were hanging which is so firmly believed that none would hire a Horse or a Mulet that had not been so sprinkled So that from the Popes Horses down to the poorest man in Rome all are brought thither but this is not all the profitable part of this piece of Folly is that every one brings a Present the richer sort send Purses of Money some give great Wax Lights all stuck full of Testons a piece of 20 pence the poorer bring either smaller pieces of Money or Presents of Wine Oyl Bread or such things as they can afford but in a Word no man comes empty so that this is the Market-day of those Monks in which for some Gallons of Water and Salt they get more Presents than would serve to maintain them for seven years they quickly convert all that is not necessary for them into Money and by this means they are vastly rich When I saw all this I could not but think that men must become first Beasts themselves before things of this kind could pass upon them but since I have added this in a Postscript rather than give my self the trouble to make it come in pertinently into my Letter I will add another particular that is writ me from Rome the sixth of October 1687. I am told that men are now more puzled in their thoughts with Relation to the business of Molinos than ever It was Visible that his Abjuration was only a pretended thing for in effect he has abjured nothing his party believe that they are very numerous not only in Rome Italy Spain and France and in all these parts of the world but that they have many followers even in America it self one sees now in almost all the Churches in Rome some of them praying in corners with their Hands and Eyes lifted up to Heaven and all in Tears and Sighs which is no small trouble to those who thought they had quite routed them but find they are not so much quasht as it was thought they would have been by the mock Triumph that was made upon Molinos Nor do they believe a word of those Reports that are spread of his Leudness they say there was no Proof ever brought of it and that there are many thousands in Rome of both sexes that conversed much with him who have all possible reason to conclude that all these stories that were given out concerning him are Impudent Calumnies set about only to blast Him and his Doctrine and the truth is this seems to be much confirmed by the Bull that condemns his Books and his Doctrine in which no mention is made of his ill Life and Hypocrisy which had been very probably done if the matter had been well proved since this would not only have satisfied people with relation to him but would have very much confirmed the Accusations of those horrid Opinions that are laid to his Charge Which had appeared with much more Evidence if it had been found that his Life had agreed with those Tenets for tho it had not been a just Inference to conclude him guilty of those things because they were charged on him in the Bull yet one may reckon it almost a sure Inference that he is not guilty of them since the Bull does not tax him for them A THIRD LETTER Concerning some of the STATES OF ITALY And of their present Interest and Policy SIR I Threw into my former Letter all those general Reflections on the State of Religion and the Maxims of the Romans concerning it that I could gather together during my Stay at Rome Now I quit that subject and shall at present entertain you with some Political Observations which will be so much the more acceptable because I fancy they will be new to you But before I go so far as Italy I will give you an account of a very curious Salt-work that I saw in my way to Italy at Sode near Francfort It belongs to Mr. Malapert and has been wrought above 60 years but the present Master of it as he is a man of great worth so he is very Ingenious and has much perfected that which was managed at a much greater Expence before he undertook it There rises at the foot of some little Hills which produce a very good Wine a Spring of Water that is so very little brackish to the tast that one will hardly think it possible to fetch much Salt out of it yet it has such a tast of Salt that there was room for Industry to prepare this Water so that without such an expence in Fire as should eat out the profit it might turn to a good account which Mr. Malapert seems to have carried as far as is possible The Meadow that lies in the levil with this Spring is Impregnate with Salt Iron Nitre and Sulphur but Salt is that which prevails first then a Pump is put upon this Spring which is managed by a Watermil and throws up the Water about fifteen Foot high and then it goes by a Pipe into vast Machines that are made to receive it There is a great piece of ground Inclosed in which there are 24 vast Chests or Cisterns for the Water in two stories 12 in a story the one just over the other they are about seventy foot long twelve broad and two deep over every one of these there is a roof of boards supported by wooden Pillars of 12 foot high which covers them from Rain-water but yet the water within them is in a full exposition to the