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A42516 The frauds of Romish monks and priests set forth in eight letters / lately written by a gentleman in his journey into Italy, and publish'd for the benefit of the publick. Gavin, Antonio, fl. 1726. 1691 (1691) Wing G390; ESTC R31723 231,251 433

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him of his Salary and about a Fortnight after there came an Order by which he was put out of his place of Philosophy Lecturer and sent away to a small Monastery in the Country His Crime as far as I could search into the matter was not for having Entertain'd an infamous Familiarity with a Common Prostitute for this his Superiour had been well acquainted with a year ago but his Fault was That he had been so unhappy not to use that Caution as to prevent its coming to publick Knowledge Italy without contradiction is accounted by all for a very Corrupt and Debauch'd Country and it is as sure that the Priests and Monks a sort of People who have Vowed Eternal Chastity are the main occasion of her being branded with this just Reproach The immense Treasures they possess are a Scandal and Stumbling-Stone unto them and Loose-Women who are not ignorant of this account themselves happy to be taken into their Favour it being a Proverb in Italy That the Wench of a Priest or Monk can never want any thing The Monks besides the Vow of Chastity have also taken upon them that of Poverty and accordingly ought never to possess any Mony of their own but the Avarice of the Popes of Rome have made them in direct opposition to their Vow Proprietors To what purpose is it to cover the Institution of Monastick Orders under the fair pretext of leading a more Perfect and a more Christian Life than Secular Men do when it is so apparent that the principal Motive of their Institution was the filling of the Pope's Coffers and the enriching of the Prelates of the Court of Rome Let any one go and search as long as they please in Cloisters for that Spirit of Chastity Poverty and Obedience which in them is expresly professed and after all 't is certain he will find there less of these than in many Secular Families But sure it is the Pope always finds them ready to furnish him with what Sum of Mony he stands in need of The Reason why the Popes institute so many New Orders is because they are morally certain they will not stand long without falling and departing from the Rules and Strictness of their first Institution and that this will make way for their Suppression which cannot but be of vast advantage to them 'T is not long since that one Pope suppressed Three of them all at once viz. the Order of S. Jerom that of the Jesuats and that of the Waters who likewise professed the Rule of S. Jerom. The Institution of this last Order was a very pleasant one and their Exit was as ridiculous The First Fathers of this Order being Inspired as they said by the Holy Ghost set themselves to Distil Waters and Spirits for the relief and service of poor Sick● People and this their Distilling of Waters was their Character of distinction from others and made them to be call'd Fathers of the Waters A short time after all this Spirituality was reduced to a Distilling of Beautifying Waters for Ladies to make their Hands white and to preserve or augment their Beauty All these Three Orders were become extreamly Rich and Scandalous when the Pope thought fit to suppress them and to unite to the Patrimony of the Church all their Possessions giving their Churches to other Monks who at the bottom were ne're a whit better than those they were taken from This was indeed a very rude Treatment for them thus at once to divest them of all their Revenues and Incoms and to force them tho' sore against their Will to the practice of their Vow of Poverty by reducing them to Beggary and the Charitable Benevolence of their Friends and Acquaintance This is that which makes the Monks so much to dread these Suppressions and the Popes who are not ignorant of it have nothing to do but to threaten them therewith whenever they have a mind to squeez a considerable Sum of Mony from them which Method the late Pope Innocent the XI th several times put in practice as well against the Order of the Canons Regular as several other Congregations of the Order of S. Bennet The Order of Mount Olivet alone at one time made him a Present of an Hundred Thousand Crowns to appease his Anger tho' it was not long before this that another Pope had squeez'd out of them by the same Artifice the Sum of 400000 Crowns and because for this Reason it was impossible for them to raise that Sum in Ready Mony within the short term was allotted them for it he gave them leave to engage their Fonds and to Mortgage the Land belonging to their Monastery which they did accordingly and making a dextrous use of this Conjuncture by striking whilst the Iron was hot they desired of the Pope whom they found at that time in a good Humor to give them leave to receive Pensions from their Kindred and Relations and of possessing Land in Propriety which was in effect to request That notwithstanding their Vow of Perpetual Poverty it might be lawful for them to be as Rich as any other Seculars and yet as contradictory to their Vow as their Request was the Pope had the Conscience to grant it not only to them but to all other Religious Houses from whence he drew vast Sums of Mony This is that which at this day makes the Monks of Italy so full of Mony and so well Lin'd for besides the competent Allowance they have for their Subsistence from the Monastery they enjoy besides considerable Annual Pensions from their Families which they spend at their pleasure and to satisfie their Lusts I have known some of them my self that had no less than 1000 l. Sterling Annual Pension The Cardinals perceiving that the Popes draw so considerable Advantage from Religious Orders are not wanting on their side to make them as profitable to themselves as they can and to this end have found out the way of Selling them their Protection for as much Mony as they can raise them to Each Order has its Cardinal Protector to whom they allow an Annual Pension of 3 or 4000 Crowns and this for to obtain their Favour and Protection at the Court of Rome upon occasion The Abbots of the Congregation of Mount Olivet finding that Innocent the XI th was resolved to suppress them or at least made a shew to be so they immediately had recourse to their Protector the Cardinal Faschinetti they writ a Letter to him wherein they declar'd the great Danger in which their Congregation was and earnestly entreated him to make use of all his Credit with the Pope to stave off this fatal Blow from them and that in consideration of this his seasonable Service they would augment his Pension with the additional Supplement of 1000 Crowns a Year I was present at the very time when the Cardinal opened this Letter and having read the Promise they made him of 1000 Crowns Augmentation he Cry'd out in a most