The house to which the poor fainting boy was carried, happened to be a
convent of Capuchins, who charitably let him remain at the door for
three hours; but at last he was recognized by one of the venerable
brothers, who had seen him in the monastery to which he belonged. On
this discovery, he was carried into a cell, and attention paid to
recover him, in order that he might expiate, by a salutary penitence,
the errors of which he had been guilty.
As soon as he had recovered strength, he was conducted, well bound, to
his convent, and the following is precisely the manner in which he was
treated. In the first place he was placed in a dungeon under ground, at
the bottom of which was an enormous stone, to which a chain of iron was
attached. To this chain he was fastened by one leg, and near him was
placed a loaf of barley bread and a jug of water; after which they
closed the entrance of the dungeon with a large block of stone, which
covered the opening by which they had descended.
At the end of three days they withdrew him from the dungeon, in order to
bring him before the criminal court of the Capuchins. They wished to
know if he had any accomplices in his flight, and to oblige him to
confess, applied the mode of torture employed in the convent. This
preparatory torture was inflicted by cords, which bound the limbs of the
patient, and made him endure a sort of rack.
After having undergone these torments, he was condemned to be imprisoned
for two years in his cell, from which he was to be brought out thrice a
week, in order to receive upon his naked body the discipline with iron
chains.
For six months his constitution endured this punishment, from which he
was at length so fortunate as to escape in consequence of a quarrel
among the Capuchins, who fought with one another, and allowed the
prisoner to escape during the fray.
After hiding himself for some hours, he ventured to go abroad at the
decline of day, almost worn out by hunger, and scarcely able to support
himself. A passing Samaritan took pity upon the poor, famished spectre,
conducted him to his house, and gave him assistance. The unhappy youth
himself related to me his story in the presence of his liberator. Behold
here the consequence of vows!
It would be a nice point to decide, whether the horrors of passing every
day among the mendicant friars are more revolting than the pernicious
riches of the other orders, which reduce so many families into
mendicants.
All of them have made a vow to live at our expense, and to be a burden
to their country; to injure its population, and to betray both their
contemporaries and posterity; and shall we suffer it?
Here is another interesting question for officers of the army: Why are
monks allowed to recover one of their brethren who has enlisted for a
soldier, while a captain is prevented from recovering a deserter who has
turned monk?
VOYAGE OF ST. PETER TO ROME.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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