[42] Our Doctor of the Sorbonne and Abbé Boileau (whose meaning is
here faithfully laid before the reader) speaks with much confidence
of the proofs he derives in support of his opinion, from the above
Latin lines, which he adds he thinks he has done _well_ and _wisely_
to produce; and I have postponed to the end of his argument, to make
any remark upon the subject, in order to let him enjoy his triumph
a little longer. However, his whole reasoning is no more than a
quibble on the sense of the word _flagrum_; which, indeed signifies a
whip, but also signifies a lustful passion: both come from the verb
_flagrare_, to burn; and _flagrare amore_, to burn with love: hence
the word _flagrans delictum_, which is said of a Man who is caught
in the act of debauching another Man’s wife, or as some Civilians
express it, _alienam Uxorem subagitans_: from the above expression
the French have made the words _flagrant délit_, which have the same
meaning; and they say of a Man under the above circumstances, that he
is caught _en flagrant délit_. The real meaning of the Latin lines
above-quoted, is, therefore, that Christians ought to be free, not
from every kind of _flagellation_, but from lustful passions. Those
lines, it may be observed, together with the quibble contained in
them, of which our Author has availed himself to support his private
opinion, are in the same taste with the other productions of Monks,
during the times of the _middle age_, and of the general decay of
literature, when finding out quibbles and puns, and succeeding in
composing acrostics, anagrams, and other _difficiles nugæ_, engrossed
the whole ambition of Versificators: though, to say the truth, worse
lines than the above have been written in that kind of style.
[43] Instances of revelations, like those of St. Bridget, concerning
the person of Jesus Christ and his sufferings, are very frequent
among Nuns; and, to say the truth, it is nowise surprising that they
should, at times, have visions of this kind. As those Women who are
destined to live in the condition of Nuns, are commonly, not to say
always, made to take their vows at an early age, that is, at a time
when their passions are most disposed to be inflamed, and when an
object of love may be looked upon as one of the necessaries of life,
this, together with the circumstance of their close confinement,
induces a number of them to contract a real and ardent love for the
person of Jesus Christ, whose pictures they see placed almost in
every corner, who is, besides, expressly called their Husband, whose
Spouses they are said to be, and to whom, at the final and solemn
closing of their vows, they have been actually betrothed, by having
a ring put on their finger. To the mind of such of those unfortunate
young Women as have once begun to indulge fancies of this kind, the
image of their beloved Spouse is continually present, under some one
of the figures by which he is represented in the above-mentioned
pictures; and his flagellations, and other hardships he was made to
undergo, are, among other things, the objects of their tenderest
concern: hence the numberless visions and revelations which Nuns,
like St. Bridget, have at all times had upon those subjects: and
several among them, whose love was more fervent, or who thought
themselves intitled to some particular distinction from their
Spouse, have even fancied, on certain occasions, that they had been
favoured with a visible impression of his sacred _Stigmats_, that
is, of the marks of the five main wounds which he received when he
was put to death. The idea of those visible marks or _Stigmats_ of
Jesus Christ’s wounds, we may observe, was, in the first instance,
a contrivance of St. Francis, who pretended that they had been
impressed on his body during a vision he had in a remote place; and
he prevailed upon his Monks, and other adherents, to consider them as
emblems of a close affinity between him and our Lord, and as a kind
of order of knighthood that had been conferred on him.
[44] Among those Solitaries who, as is above-mentioned, fixed their
habitations upon the tops of columns, particular mention is made
of one who was afterwards, on that account, denominated St. Simeon
_Stylites_, from the Greek word Στύλος, a column. This St. Simeon
Stylites was a native of Syria; and the column upon which he had
chosen to fix his habitation, was sixty cubits high. Numbers of
people resorted to it from all parts, in order to consult him upon
different subjects, and he delivered his oracles to them from his
exalted mansion. One of his methods of mortifying himself was, to
make frequent genuflexions; and he made them so quickly, it is said,
and in such numbers, that a person, who one day spied him from some
distance, and attempted to count them, grew tired, and left off when
he had told two thousand.
The existence of the above Hermit, as well as of those mentioned by
our Author, together with the hard penances to which they submitted,
seem in general to be facts pretty well ascertained; and the amazing
hardships which the _Fakirs_ in the East Indies, still continue in
these days to impose upon themselves, make the above accounts appear
the less incredible. However, they have been since wonderfully
magnified in the Compilations of Lives of Saints, and Histories of
miracles; especially in that called the _Golden Legend_, which is the
most remarkable of all, and was compiled a few Centuries ago by one
_Jacobus de Voragine_, and has been since translated into several
languages: it is a thick folio book, bound in parchment, which is
found at all the Inns in Catholic Countries.
The life of a Hermit still continues to be followed by several
persons. Those who make profession of it, are Men who, like the first
Anchorites of the East, choose to live by themselves, in places more
or less remote from Towns, without being tied by any vows; they only
wear a particular kind of habit, and perform certain religious duties.
Whatever may be the real or affected sanctity of a few of them,
the whole tribe of Hermits, however, have not escaped the common
misfortune of Friars and Nuns, who have numbers of amorous stories
circulated on their account; often for no other reason, we are
charitably to suppose, than the additional degree of relish which
they derive from the contrast between the facts they contain, and the
outward life and professions of those of whom they are related. Thus,
the celebrated _La Fontaine_ has made the contrivance of a certain
Hermit, for obtaining possession of a young Woman who lived in a
neighbouring cottage, the subject of one of his _Tales_. And _Poggio_
has related another story of an Hermit, which I think worthy of a
place here, since this book is designed no less for the entertainment
than the information of the Reader.
The Hermit in question lived in the neighbourhood of Florence. He
was a great favourite with the Ladies; and the most distinguished
at Court flocked daily to the place of his retreat. The report of
the licentious life he led, reached the ears of the Grand Duke, who
ordered the Man to be seised and brought before him: and as it was
well known he had been connected with the first Ladies at Court,
he was commanded by the Secretary of State to declare the names of
all the Ladies whose favours he had received: when he named three
or four, and said there were no more. The Secretary insisted upon
his telling the whole truth, and as he was very hard upon him, the
Hermit named a few more, assuring that now he had told all. The
Secretary then gave him threats, and again insisted with great warmth
upon his declaring the names of all the Ladies; when the Hermit,
fetching a deep sigh, said, _Well then, Sir, write down your own_:
which words confounded the Secretary, and afforded much merriment to
the Grand Duke and his Courtiers.