Couched, and scratching the ground, I took both the piece and dust, and carried them to the piscina; but I was suspended ab officio and beneficio for eight days, as a punishment for my distraction, and not minding well my business. But this rule and custom of throwing into the piscina, among the dirty water, every thing that the host had touched, they ought to throw the fingers of the priest, or at least the tongues of men and women into the same place; and thus, their tricks and superstitious ceremonies never would be discovered nor spread abroad. How inconsistent this custom is with right sense and reason, every body may see.

Secondly. In the Dominican's convent it happened, that a lady who had a lap-dog, which she always used to carry along with her, went to receive the sacrement with the dog under her arm, and the dog looking up and beginning to bark when the friar went to put the wafer in the lady's mouth, he let the wafer fall, which happened to drop into the dog's mouth. Both the friar and the lady were in a deep amazement and confusion, and knew not what to do; so they sent for the reverend father prior, who resolved this nice point upon the spot, and ordered to call two friars and the clerk, and to bring the cross, and two candlesticks with two candles lighted, and to carry the dog in from the procession into the vestry, and keep the poor little creature there with illuminations, as if he was the host itself, till the digestion of the wafer was over, and then to kill the dog and throw it into the piscina. Another friar said, it was better to open the dog immediately, and take out the fragments of the host; and a third was of opinion, that the dog should be burnt on the spot. The lady, who loved dearly her Cupid, (this was the dog's name,) entreated the father prior to save the dog's life, if possible, and that she would give any thing to make amends for it. Then the prior and friars retired to consult what to do in this case; and it was resolved, that the dog should be called for the future, El perillo del sacramento, i. e. The sacrament's dog. 2. That if the dog should happen to die, the lady was to give him a bury ing in consecrated ground. 3. That the lady should take care not to let the dog play with other dogs. 4. That she was to give a silver dog, which was to be placed upon the tabernacle where the hosts are kept. And, 5. That she should give twenty pistoles to the convent. Every article was performed accordingly, and the dog was kept with a great deal of care and veneration. The case was printed, and so came to the ears of the inquisitors, and Don Pedro Guerrero, first inquisi

or, thinking the thing very scandalous, sent for the poor dog, and kept him in the inquisition to the great grief of the lady. What became of the dog nobody can tell. This case is worthy to be reflected on by serious, learned men, who may draw consequences to convince the Romans of the follies, covetousness, and superstitions of the priests.

This I aver, that after this case was published, it was disputed on in all the moral academies; but as I cannot tell all the sentiments and resolutions of them, I will confine myself to those of the academy of the holy trinity, wherein I was present when the case was proposed by the president, in the following terms:

Most reverend and learned brethren-the case of the dog (blasphemously called the sacrament's dog) deserves your application and searching, which ought to be carried on with a wise, christian, and solid way of arguing, both in this case, or any other like it. For my part, I am surprised when I think of the irregular, unchristian method, the priors and friars took in the case, and both the case and their resolution call for our mature consideration. Thanks be to God, that our people give full obedience to our mother the church, and that they inquire no further into the matter, after some of our teachers have advised them; otherwise the honor and reputation of our brethren would be quite ruined. For my part, (salva fide,) I think, that upon the same case, the priest ought to let the thing drop there, and take no further notice, rather than to give occasion to some critics to scandalize, and to laugh at the whole clergy. Besi les, that it is to abate the incomparable value of the Eucharistia, and to make it ridiculous before good, sensible men.

Thus the president spoke; and fifteen members of the academy were of his opinion. One of the members said, that being certain that the dog had eaten the real body and blood of Jesus Christ, the priest, after the communion was over, was obliged to call the lady in private, and give a vomit to the dog, and to cast into the piscina what he should throw up. Another said, that the sacrament being a spiritual nourishment to the soul, he was obliged to ask a question, and it was, whether the sensitive soul of the dog was nourished by the sacrament or not? All agreed in the affirmative, upon which the questionist formed the following argument: The soul nourished by the sacrament of the body and blood of Christ, who is eternal life, is immortal; but the sensitive soul of the dog was nourished by Christ, according to your opinions: Ergo, the soul of the dog

is immortal; then, if immortal, where is the soul to go after death; to heaven, to hell, or to purgatory? We must answer, to neither of these places: So we disown that the dog did eat the body of Christ; and there is more in the sa^rement than we can comprehend; and (salva fide, and in the way in argument) I say, that the dog ate what we see in the host, and not what we believe. Thus the member ended his discourse.

After all these disputes, the case was thus resolved: that the priest should ask the inquisitors' advice, who being the judges in matters of faith, may safely determine what is to be done in such a case, and the like.

Thirdly. I have already said in another place, that the reverend father friar James Garcia was reputed among the learned, the only man for divinity in this present age; and that he was my master, and by his repeated kindness to me, I may say, that I was his well-beloved disciple. I was to defend a public thesis of divinity in the university, and he was to be president or moderator. The thesis contained the following at treises: De Essentia et Attributis Dei: De Visione Beatifica: De Gratia Justificante et Auxiliante: De Providentia: De Actu Libero: De Trinitate: and De Sacramentis in genere. All which I had learned from him. The shortest treatise, of all he taught publicly in the university, was the Eucharistia. The proofs of his opinion were short, and the objections against them very succinct and dark. I must confess, that I was full of confusion, and uneasy for fear that some doctor of divinity would make an argument against our opinion, touching the sacrament of Eucharistia. And I endeavored to ask my master to instruct me, and furnish me with answers suitable to the most difficult objections that could be proposed; but though he desired me to be easy about it, and that, upon necessity, he would answer for me; I replied with the following objection: God will never punish any man for not believing what is against the evidence of our senses, but the real presence in Eucharistia is so: Ergo, (salva fide,) God will not punish any man for not believing the real presence of Christ there. To this he told me that none of the doctors would propose such an argument to me, and he advised me not to make such an objection in public, but to keep it in my heart. But father, (said I,) I ask your answer. My answer is (said he) aliud Lingua doceo, aliud Corde credo; i.e. I teach one thing, and I believe another. By these instances, I have given now, every body may easily know the corruptions of the Romish church, and the nonsensical opinions of their priests and fri

ars, as also, that the learned do not believe in their hearts, that there is such a monster as transubstantiation, though for some worldly ends, they do not discover their true sentiments about it.

Now I proceed to the worship, and adoration, both the clergy and laity pay to the holy host or sacrament.

I shall not say any thing of what the people do, when the priests in a procession under a canopy carried the sacrament to the sick, for this custom and the pomp of it, and the idolatrous worship and adoration offered to it, is well known by our travellers and officers of the army.

Philip the IVth, king of Spain, as he was a hunting, met in the way a crowd of people following a priest, and asking the reason, he was told that the priest carried the consecrated wafer in his bosom to a sick person; the priest walked, and the king, leaving his horse, desired the priest to mount and ride on it, and holding the stirrup, bareheaded, he followed the priest all the way to the house, and gave him the horse for a present. From the king to the shepherd, all the people pay the same adoration to the holy host, which shall be better known by the pomp and magnificence they carry the great host with, in the solemn festival of corpus Christi, or of Christ's body. I shall describe only the general procession made on that day in Saragossa, of which I was an eye-witness.

Though the festival of corpus Christi be a moveable feast, it always falls on a Thursday. That day is made the great general procession of corpus Christi, and the Sunday following, every congregation through the streets of the parish, and every convent of friars and nuns through the cloisters of the convent go with great pomp to the private procession of Christ's body. As to the general great one, the festival is ordered in the following manner:

The Dean of the cathedral church of St. Salvator sends an officer to summon all the communities of friars, all the clergy of the parish churches, the Viceroy, governor and magistrates, the judges of the civil and criminal council, with the lord chancellor of the kingdom, and all the fraternities, brotherhoods, or corporations of the city, to meet together on the Thursday following, in the metropolitan cathedral church of St. Salvator, with all the standards, trumpets, giants,* both of

Three big giant men, and three giant women, and six little ones, drest in men and women's clothes, made of thin wood, and carried by a man hid under the clothes. The big ones are fifteen feet high, which

the greater or lesser size in their respective habits of office or dignity; and all the clergy of the parish churches, and friars of convents, to bring along with them in a procession, with due reverence, all the silver bodies of saints on a base or pedestal, which are in their churches and convents. Item: Orders are published in every street, that the inhabitants or house-keepers are to clean the streets which the sacrament is to go through, and cover the ground with greens, and flowers, and to put the best hangings in the fronts of the balconies, and windows: All which is done accordingly; or else he that does not obey and perform such orders, is to pay 20 pistoles without any excuse whatsoever.

At three in the afternoon, the viceroy goes in state with the governor, judges, magistrates and officers, to meet the archbishop in his palace, and to accompany his grace to church, where all the communities of friars, clergy and corporations, are waiting for them. The dean and chapter receive them at the great porch, and after the archbishop has made a prayer before the great altar, the music begins to sing, Pange lingua gloriosa, while the archbishop takes out of the tabernacle the host upon the rich chalice, and placeth it on the great custodia, on the altar's table. Then the quire begins the evening songs, in which the archbishop in his pontifical habit officiateth, and when all is over, his grace giveth the blessing to the people with the sacrament in his hands. Then the archbishop, with the help of the dean, archdeacon and chanter, placeth the custodia on a gilt pedestal, which is adorned with flowers and the jewels of several ladies of quality, and which is carried on the shoulders of twelve priests, drest in the same ornaments they say mass in. This being done, the procession begins to go out of the church in the following order:

First of all the bagpipe, and the great and small giants, dancing all along the streets. 2. The big silver cross of the cathedral, carried by a clerk-priest, and two young assistants, with silver candlesticks and lighted candles. 3. From the cross to the piper, a man with a high hook goes and comes back again while the procession lasts. The hook is called St. Paul's hook, because it belongs to St. Paul's church. That hook is very sharp, and they make use of it in that procession, to cut down the signs of taverns and shops, for fear that the holy custodia should be spoiled. 4. The standard and sign of the youngest corporation, and all the members of it, with a wax are kept in the hall of the city, for the magnificence and splendor of that day.