“_The effectual aid given by that Crucifix in the Plague of 1649, was
upon record._” p. 174.
Zuñiga, in his Annals, copies a Spanish inscription, which still
exists in the convent of Saint Augustin, at Seville; of which I
subjoin a translation:--
“In 1649, this town being under a most violent attack of the plague,
of which great numbers died,[67] the two most illustrious Chapters,
Ecclesiastical and Secular, requested that this community of our
father St. Augustin, should allow the image of Christ to be carried
to the Cathedral. It was, accordingly, conveyed, on the second of
July of the same year, in a solemn procession, attended by the
Secular Chapter (the Town Corporation), and all the religious
communities, amidst the loud wailings of the people; when the most
illustrious Chapter of the Cathedral walked to meet the procession at
the end of the street of the _Placentines_.[68] The most holy image
was left that evening and the ensuing night in the Cathedral, and
returned the next day to its shrine, our Lord being pleased to ordain
that the plague should begin to abate from the day when the image
was brought out, and cease altogether at the end of the _Octavario_,
(eight days worship), as it was attested by the physicians. Wherefore
the most noble and most loyal city of Seville appointed the said
second of July, for ever, to repair to this convent as an act of
thanksgiving for that great benefit.”
[67] Espinosa, the modern editor and annotator of Zuñiga, states,
from ancient records, that within the first six weeks after the
appearance of the plague, the number of deaths amounted to eighty
thousand. This, however, we consider as a palpable exaggeration;
for, though Seville was nearly depopulated on that occasion,
it is probable that it never contained more than one hundred
thousand inhabitants.
[68] Seville has several streets bearing the name of foreign
nations--a faint memorial of its former commerce and wealth. The
street of the _Placentines_ is a continuation of that of the
Franks (Francos). There is a Lombard Street (calle Lombardos), a
_Genoa Street_, and some others of a similar denomination.
In spite of this solemn acknowledgment of the miracle, the
_astrologers_ of that day were unwilling to give the crucifix the
whole credit of staying the plague. Zuñiga shrewdly observes that
the conjunction of Jupiter with Mars, which, according to Captain
Francis de Ruesta, removed the infection, did not take place till the
12th of July, ten days after the wonderful effects of the procession
had become visible; and the Captain himself, probably to keep clear
of the Inquisition, declares that the favourable influence of the
planets “was previously _ensured_ by the exhibition of the Holy
Christ of Saint Augustin.” _Zuñiga, Anales de Sevilla_, t. iv. p. 404.