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MEMOIRS 
 
 f>i' 
 
 SCIPIO DE Rice I, 
 
 LATE BISHOP OF PISTOIA AN J) I'HATO, 
 
 REFORMER OF CATHOLICISM IN TUSCANY 
 UNDER THE REIGN OF LEOPOLD 
 
 rOMPlLKD FKOW 
 
 THK AUTOGRAPH .AISS. OF 1 HAT PUt'I.ATE, 
 
 AND THE LETTERS OF OTHER DISTINGUISHED PERSONS 
 
 OF HIS TIMES. 
 
 ■^ ^•r^ro^.cAv.^-- 
 
 EDITED FROM THE ORIGINAL OF M. DE POTTER, 
 
 A ... - 
 
 BY 
 
 THOMAS ROSCOE. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 • ' "LONDON f • 
 HENRY CO:JiU;R:N' ,NiSA^' BpllLINGTON STREET. 
 
 3,829. , 
 
 > > J J ) 
 
r 
 
 C5 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PR1NT2P BY S. Ann R. ^.ENTI.tY, 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The work from which the materials of the follow- 
 ing volumes are derived, has excited considerable 
 attention on the Continent, and is one of the most 
 popular books of the day. Scipio de Ricci, as cele- 
 brated for his private virtues as for his conspicuous 
 station in public life, was of a character which de- 
 servedly ranks him among the most sincere and 
 venerable defenders of religious truth and liberty. 
 The able compiler of the work, M. de Potter, merits 
 considerable praise for the care he has taken in col- 
 lecting the materials which existed for the complete 
 memoir of this distinguished Prelate, and has per- 
 formed a task as acceptable to the students of con- 
 temporary history, as it was a just tribute of respect 
 to the great man who formed its subject. 
 
 Ricci lived in times when there were many men 
 
 6 8 H 1 B 
 
VI I'll L FACE. 
 
 of more spirit, and as ardent in the pursuit of change 
 or reformation as himself; but in many very im- 
 portant points he claims an attention and respect 
 which can be awarded to few others who acted a 
 conspicuous part in the agitating and fearful drama 
 of the eighteenth century. AVhen Liberty herself was 
 desecrated by being allied with Atheism, and made 
 the enemy of outraged humanity, the virtuous Bishop 
 of Prato and Pistoia was planning and pursuing a 
 system of reform which ANcnild have established the 
 freedom of his countrymen on true moral, intellec- 
 tual, and religious imi)rovement. IMie most zealous 
 enemy of injustice in states and governments was 
 not more opposed to oppression, not more fervent in 
 his desire of seeing mankind emancipated from every 
 species of tyrannous thraldom ; but he was superior 
 in his designs to the spirit of the age. He desii'ed 
 reform civil and ecclesiastic, yet he knew how, to 
 separate authority from its coi-ru))tions, and he en- 
 deavoured to pursue a line of action, which, if suc- 
 cessful, would have led to the |)eimanent establish- 
 ment of religious and moral improvement in the 
 Italian States. 
 
 The narrative of the struggles, of the hardships 
 
PREFACE. Vll 
 
 and afflictions, which this virtuous Prelate luid to en- 
 dure in carrying on his reforms, is one of the most 
 interesting pieces of biography existing. Emanci- 
 pating liimself early in life from the trammels of 
 falsehood and superstition, he appears to have been 
 carried forward, as much by the purity and moral 
 correctness of his feelings, as by the exercise of an 
 ingenuous mind. Thioughout his long and weary 
 career, this amiability and purity of character are 
 constantly apparent ; and he gains our personal 
 esteem, and affection for his virtues, as well as our 
 respect for his perseverance during an extended 
 series of years in the defence of truth and right. 
 
 The sequel of this interesting history of a man 
 whose name will always be held in reverence for his 
 purity of intention, affects, as much as it disappoints us. 
 Ricci, though possessing all the virtues of humanity, 
 and all the sincerity and piety which should form 
 the cliaracter of a reformer, was wanting in those 
 sterner elements of mind which are requisite to a 
 man standing in the situation he occupied. His 
 good sense and his natural love of truth made him 
 hate the base and enslaving superstitions with which 
 he saw religion corrupted ; his humanity made iiim 
 
Vlll PREFACE. 
 
 wish to see his fellow creatures freed from such de- 
 gradation ; the impulse of his heart, and the venera- 
 tion he had for the faith he professed, convinced him 
 that it was his duty to attempt their deliverance. 
 In Leopold lie foimd a patron worthy of his respect, 
 and well fitted to aid him in his designs : had the sup- 
 port of the Grand-duke only been continued to him, 
 there is little doubt he would have endured any per- 
 sonal toil to effect his object. But he was at last left 
 alone; his spirit, never bold enough to maintain such 
 a situation, failed him ; his ideas of the duty of sub- 
 mission, united with the natural mildness of his cha- 
 racter, confounded the ])lain and obvious reasoning 
 a stronger mind would have employed ; and he fell 
 a victim at once to his own want of determination, 
 and to the artifices of the common enemies of him- 
 self, liberty, and religion. 
 
 In presenting these volumes to an English public, 
 it has been found necessary to select, with some de- 
 gree of caution, from the immense mass of docu- 
 ments which the original Editor of Ricci's Life has 
 amassed. Many of the papers he has printed are ut- 
 terly useless, and devoid of interest ; and others could 
 only be valuable to those who require to be told 
 
PRKFACK. IX 
 
 that where superstition and political profligacy reign 
 in their most degraded forms, morality and decency 
 will be entirely forgotten. We have, therefore, spared 
 the reader the disgusting toil of reading through page 
 after page of detail, which would add no additional 
 proof to a truth already known, and in this country, 
 we have to thank Heaven, of no present interest. The 
 vices of the Dominican monks and nuns have been al- 
 ready sufficiently exposed ; and it is Ricci's virtues, 
 and Ricci's struggles, in which the mind of an Eng- 
 lish reader will be most deeply interested. Of these 
 the following pages will give ample proof; and while 
 they thus introduce a character not hitherto gene- 
 rally known in this country, they will afford matter 
 for deep reflection to every lover of his country and 
 true friend of religion. 
 
 As a piece of contemporary history also, we believe, 
 the Memoirs of the Bishop of Prato and Pistoia 
 will be found of considerable interest and usefulness. 
 He was in correspondence with many of the most 
 eminent men who figured on the great theatre of 
 European politics, at a time when politics was a 
 science of life and death. His own fate was de- 
 pending on the iss\ie of the great contest so 
 
X J»KEFACE. 
 
 warmly carried on around liini ; and the history of 
 his Hfe forms a most important episode in the event- 
 ful drama. 
 
 The orioinal Work, the really valuable and im- 
 portant parts of \\ hich are here presented to the 
 reader, was chiefly composed from the autograph 
 manuscripts and private memoranda of Ricci : they 
 were furnished to the Editor by the nephews of the 
 Prelate ; and no doubt, we believe, has ever arisen 
 respecting their uniform authenticity. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 or 
 
 THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The birth of Ricci. — His studies among the Jesuits. — His 
 Renunciation of the principles of that Society. — His Ordi- 
 nation as Priest. — He inherits the property of the hist Ge- 
 neral of the Jesuits. — The Suppression of the Order, and 
 Confinement of the ex-General at Rome. — Death of Pope 
 Ganganelli. — Circumstantial narrative proving that Pope to 
 have been poisoned. . . . Page 1 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 
 Pius VI. elected Pope. — Ricci, at Rome, refuses to enter into 
 the Prelacy. — The Correspondence of Ricci with the last 
 General of the Jesuits. — The Trial of the ex-General, and 
 his protestations of innocence. — Ricci appointed Vicar-Ge- 
 neral of the Archbishop of Florence. — Efforts of the Grand- 
 duke Leopold for the diffusion of knowledge, and the oppo- 
 sition to the See of Rome. . . Page 1 9 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Elevation of Scipio de Ricci to the Bishopric of Pistoia and 
 Prato. — Discontent of the Pope at the Ecclesiastical Reforms 
 of the Grand-duke Leopold. — General view of the differences 
 between the Civil and Spiritual Government of Tuscany pre- 
 vious to the accession of Leopold. — The Senator Rucellai. — 
 His labours to free Tuscany from the despotism of the Court 
 of Rome. — His Memoir on the famous Bull In Coena Dotnini. 
 
 Page 31 
 
 VOL. I. b 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Anxiety of theGr:iml-dulce to procure information on the abuses 
 of the Church. — Letter to him from Futlier Villensi, pointing 
 out some necessary changes. — Letters from a Nun, complain- 
 ing of the irreguhirities of her Convent. — IMemoir of Rucellai 
 on the scandalous conduct of a Confessor. — Mendicant 
 Priests. — Abolition of the privileges of Sanctuaries. — Letter 
 of Rucellai on the abuses, both as to number and discipline, 
 of the Relisiious Orders. . . . Page 57 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Examination of Ricci before Pius VL — Ricci in his Diocese. — 
 Disorders of the Dominicans. — Disputes of Ricci with the 
 Dominicans on tlie subject of their Convents. — His Contests 
 with the ex-Jesuits. — The Superstition of the Sacred 
 Heart. — Different attempts at reform. . . 87 
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 
 Examination of the Nuns of Prato. — Obstinacy of the Pope. — 
 He at length yields to Leopold. — Ricci's visit to Le Mon- 
 tague. — Improvements in that district. — Reform of ecclesias- 
 tical studies. .... Page 122 
 
 »^ 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Measures taken by Leopold to establish his IMunicipal System 
 ,ind Reforms. .... r*age 160 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Account of the Ecclesiastical Assembly of Florence, and of the 
 Acts passed by it. — Answers of the Bishops. . Page 215 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Supplementary observations on Leopold's character, and on the 
 Transactions of his Reign. . . . Page 302 
 
MEMOIRS 
 
 OF 
 
 SCIPIO DE RICCI. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The Birth of Ricci. — His studies amongst the Jesuits. — His 
 Renunciation of the Principles of that Society. — His Ordi- 
 nation as Priest. — He inherits the Property of the last Ge- 
 neral of the Jesuits. — The Suppression of the Order, and 
 Confinement of the Ex-General at Rome. — Death of Pope 
 Ganganelli. — Circumstantial Narrative proving that Pope to 
 have been poisoned. 
 
 SciPio DE Ricci was born in Florence on the 
 9th of January, 1741. He was the third son of 
 the senator president, Peter Francis de Ricci, and 
 of Maria Louisa, daughter of Bettina Ricasoli, 
 baron of La Trappola, and captain of the Swiss 
 guard in the service of the Duke of Tuscany. 
 
 His family, one of the most ancient and distin- 
 guished in Tuscany, was not at that time in favour 
 
2 MEIMOTRS OF 
 
 with the house of Lorraine, who had been but re- 
 cently seated on tlie Grand Ducal throne. His grand- 
 father had professed republican principles, and his 
 uncle had taken the side of the Bourbons against 
 the House of Austria. They were too proud to 
 seek for court favour under these circumstances, 
 and looked for preferment to other quarters. Young 
 Ricci, wlio had lost his fatlior, was therefore sent 
 by his uncles to Rome, at the age of fifteen ; and, 
 in spite of the protestations of his mother, and of 
 the priest who had hitherto directed his studies, (a 
 man in his principles of religion and morality strong- 
 ly opposed to Jesuitism,) he was put under the care 
 of the Jesuits. 
 
 Catholic Europe was at this time occupied with 
 the quarrels of this too famous body. Its insatiable 
 ambition, its immense riches, its terrifying power, 
 the information diffused among its memljers, the 
 great men of all kinds which it had produced and 
 was every day producing, its doctrines subversive of 
 the independence of governments and the morality 
 of the people, — all these characteristics had divided 
 the Christians of the Roman Catholic communion 
 into obstinate partizans of its system and its ex- 
 istence, already attacked on all sides, and into ad- 
 versaries who thought only of its destruction. Sci- 
 pio de Ricci had been bred in the very bosom of 
 the order and by its members, and he had been 
 initiated in their maxims, of which he knew the 
 very smallest details ; but he was surrounded on 
 
SCIPIO DE RICCI. 3 
 
 the other side hy the many antagonists wliicli it 
 had raised even in the metroiiolis of Catholicism. It 
 was not long before he ranged himself among the 
 most zealous and enlightened of those who hastened, 
 with all their efforts and all their wishes, to promote 
 the dissolution of this formidable society ; and who 
 never ceased to pursue its remains, and mark out 
 its spirit, as often as they thought there was any 
 danger of a revival of the evil which it had caused 
 to the great Christian community. 
 
 Ricci was devout, even superstitious : his me- 
 moirs and wi'itings prove it in a thousand places. 
 ^Vhile he was among the Jesuits, a tumour, which 
 resisted all the remedies of art, appeared upon his 
 knee. An amputation was decided upon ; when, as 
 he informs us himself, he applied with fervour 
 and constancy to the diseased part an image, re- 
 presenting the venerable Hyppolito Galantini, one 
 of the brothers of the Christian doctrine, commonly 
 called Bachettoni, and he was completely cured. 
 Strange contradiction in the human mind ! that 
 such ideas should co- exist in the same head with 
 the rational, true, and solid principles, which made 
 Ricci afterwards, to a certain extent, a religious 
 reformer, a wise citizen, a zealous patriot, and a 
 friend of the arts, literature, and humanity. 
 
 It was in the house of the Canon Bottari, who 
 was regarded by the Jesuits as the cliief of those 
 who were accused of Jansenism, that this miracle 
 took place. The Canon made his own use of it ; 
 
 B 2 
 
4 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 and his conversation and that of the persons who 
 frequented his house, cured Ricci of the ideas he 
 had formed concerning sanctity and doctrine, which 
 he confesses up to that time he had allowed in the 
 highest degree, and almost exclusively to the Jesuits. 
 
 What he learned among these fathers did not tend 
 less to prepare him for the aversion he was doomed 
 to feel for them hereafter, tlian what he had heard 
 from their adversaries. The Irish Jesuit who was 
 charged with teaching him the precious art of rea- 
 soning, taught him nothing but a sophistical and 
 captious logic — the sole end of wliicli was " among a 
 thousand useless questions and logomachies without 
 number, to take for granted in all their extent, and in 
 all tiie clearness of which they were susceptible, the 
 fundamental principles of molinism and co/igniism, by 
 means of the ideas of the medial science ; that is, of 
 the means by whicii God sees conditional futures^* 
 It would be useless to explain this jargon, which 
 will be understood only by those who are familiar 
 with the controversies of the Jansenists, a sect, the 
 name of which is only remembered by the persecu- 
 tions they underwent from the powerful body which 
 they opposed. 
 
 The force of education, and the debt of gratitude 
 
 « 
 
 * Ricci's JManuscript Memoirs. In all cases where the words 
 of Ricci liiniself are used, we quote them from these Memoirs, 
 which were entrusted to Monsieur de Potter, to be used as the 
 foundation of his work. 
 
scirio DE RICCI. 5 
 
 of whicli a generous soul is always anxious to ac- 
 quit itself, made Ricci, however, relax somewhat in 
 his dislike to the society, which he had contracted 
 among the Jansenists. He always spoke in the 
 highest terms of Boscovick, Lazzeri, and Benvenuti, 
 who were the professors of history and the exact 
 sciences. In the middle of his course he took a 
 fancy to become a Jesuit, and consulted his family 
 on the subject. He informs us that he embraced the 
 idea in order to prepare himself for a place in the 
 other world, believing that this had been promised 
 in a prophecy of St. Francis Borgia, to all members 
 of the Society of Jesus. " A man," says he, " de- 
 sirous of his eternal welfare would not neglect a 
 passport of this nature ; and I had not the infor- 
 mation necessary to perceive the vanity and nullity 
 of such a pledge." 
 
 The answer of his relations was an order to re- 
 turn immediately to Florence. His mother, as we 
 have already mentioned, had no partiality for the 
 Jesuits ; and his uncles, whose ambition it was that 
 he should rise to the highest dignities of the church, 
 neglected nothing to hinder him from burying him- 
 self, with such hopes, in the den of a cloister. This 
 was in 1758. Scarcely had Ricci returned into Tus- 
 cany, before he forgot his vocation, and thought of 
 nothing but concluding his studies at the university 
 of Pisa, to which he was sent. 
 
 He pursued a course of thcf)logy at Florence, un- 
 
6 IMEIMOIRS OF 
 
 der the Benedictines of Mount Cassino, among 
 whom P. Jjiionamici was at that time lecturer. 
 He then became a good Jansenist, or rather Augus- 
 tinian. The sectaries of this name frequently join 
 to their speculative and indifferent dogmas, the active 
 and very important quality of being what is called 
 regalists — that is, they make of religion what it 
 really is, a matter of conscience, and leave the care 
 of government to those who are charged with it. 
 Saint Augustin did not preach this doctrine any more 
 than the other Christian writers of his time, who 
 could not even doubt the horrible abuses which 
 must in the course of ages arise from the infernal 
 confusion of the temporal with the spiritual power.- 
 But the Jesuits had made themselves decretalists, 
 that is to say, they were the apostles of these abuses ; 
 and the Janseiiists were obliged to combat these errors 
 not only with the body which sustained them, but 
 with the Popes, for whose particular advantage they 
 were calculated. It was only gradually that these 
 sectaries came to the degree of hardihood requisite 
 openly to affront tlie prejudices so solidly establish- 
 ed on the superstitious habits of the one party, and 
 the interested ambition of the other. Ricci, who 
 in the course of his life ran round the whole circle 
 of Jansenism, complains of it in these terms : " In 
 this course of theology, the doctrine of St. Augustin 
 was mantained with the greatest vigour ; but the re- 
 spect which they still had for certain decretals, and 
 the fear of oflending the pretensions of the Court of 
 
scirio DE iiicci. 7 
 
 Rome, did not permit these learned monks, (the 
 Benedictines) to say all that perhaps they thought, 
 but which circumstances compelled them to keep 
 silent." 
 
 Ricci was ordained priest in 1766, and appointed 
 almost immediately canon and auditor to tlie nun- 
 ciature of Tuscany. He had for his colleague the 
 Canon Martini, who directed his religious studies, 
 particularly towards sacred and ecclesiastical history, 
 the fathers of the church, and the canons of the 
 councils. He acknowledges his obligations to Mar- 
 tini for ridding him of many prejudices which his 
 education had rooted in him. 
 
 In 1772, he inherited the property of Corso de 
 Ricci, canon-penitentiary of the cathedral at Flo- 
 rence, a relative of his father. Ricci describes him 
 as being a very reserved man ; but though the bro- 
 ther of the last General of the Jesuits, he was very 
 much opposed to the morality which they taught. 
 
 This circumstance brought Ricci in contact with 
 the General of the Jesuits. After the suppression of 
 the society, the General begged from him an asylum 
 in his hotel at Florence, or in one of his country houses 
 in Tuscany, for himself and a lay -brother. Ricci went 
 to Poggio-Imperiale, (a ducal palace at a short dis- 
 tance from Florence,) to communicate the request to 
 the Grand Duke Leopold, who said at once, " Let 
 him come ; it is of no consequence to me whether he 
 sojourns in my States or elsewhere; but," added he 
 laughing, " I don't think they will let him go." This 
 
8 3IEIMOIRS OF 
 
 answer he communicated to his relation, Ijiit the Ge- 
 neral Mas not allowed to take advantage of it. He 
 was at first confined in the English college, under the 
 care of Cardinal Andrew Corsini, and of Signor Fog- 
 gini ; but the imprudence of some of his partizans 
 forced the congregation of Cardinals to transfer him 
 to the Castle of Saint Angelo, where he underwent 
 many examinations, and where, without leaving it, he 
 died. The death of the Pope who had suppressed 
 the order, had preceded his. Ricci adds his testi- 
 mony to those already known, that he was poison- 
 ed. Among his papers was found the following 
 curious and interesting document on that subject. 
 It is a report from the Spanish Ambassador to his 
 Court. 
 
 " Circumstantial Narrative describing the last illness 
 and death of Pope Clement XIV, sent by the 
 Spanish Minister to his Court. 
 
 " In 1770, a country girl of Walcntino, whose 
 name was Bernadine Beruzzi, first began to spread 
 her predictions respecting the Jesuits. There were a 
 great number of other prophecies afloat, by means of 
 which that society endeavoured to rouse the super- 
 stition of the midtitude for the evident purpose of 
 restraining his Holiness Clement XIV from issuing 
 the fatal decree of suppression. This Beraadine 
 became notorious by her impostures. She predicted 
 that the Society would not be extinguished ; that one 
 
SCIl'IO DE IIICCI. 9 
 
 of its most celebrated members would be raised 
 to the j)urple by Clement XIV himself; that the 
 Jesuits would in a short time be restored to the 
 states, from which they had been expelled ; that the 
 Pope would undergo a total change of sentiments 
 towards them ; with a variety of other falsities con- 
 tradicted by subsequent events. On th§ 24th of 
 March this deluded prophetess having herself been 
 imposed upon, proceeded to announce the death of 
 Clement XIV, and persisted in repeating the false 
 intelligence, until, after being convinced that he was 
 still alive, she returned to her predictions respecting 
 the honours and favours prepared for the Jesuits. 
 After the suppression of the society in August 
 1773, the prophecies still went on, but in an altered 
 tone ; they were reduced to two points : first, tliat the 
 society would be re-established ; secondly, that the 
 Pope and all those who Jiad assisted him would die. 
 Various punishments were denounced against them. 
 The real propagators of these predictions were some 
 Jesuits who systematically employed themselves in 
 that object : applica utjiat systema is a phrase used 
 in a letter by these fanatics. 
 
 " Notwitlistanding these rumours, the Pope lived 
 in health and quiet more than eight months after the 
 society had been abolished, though he always sus- 
 pected the intrigues of the Jesuits, and mentioned 
 his apprehensions to Mr. N. N., a person of un- 
 doubted veracity. He assured him that he resigned 
 himself to the care of the Almiglity, to whom he 
 
10 MEMOIKS OF 
 
 willingly offered himself a sacrifice, since, in sup- 
 pressing the Jesuits, he had done what appeared to 
 him absolutely necessary and just, after numerous 
 and fervent prayers addressed to Heaven, both by 
 himself and by persons of acknowledged virtue. 
 
 " The Pope was of a robust habit, subject only 
 to occasional flatulence ; his voice was strong and 
 sonorous ; he walked with the agility of a young 
 man ; his disposition was so gay, and he carried 
 his affability so far, that some persons considered 
 him too familiar. His penetration was so quick, 
 that a single word was sufficient to make him per- 
 ceive the object and the end of a discourse addressed 
 to him ; he enjoyed a good ajjpetite, and slept re- 
 gularly every night, as near as possible, five hours. 
 One day in the Holy Week of the present year 
 1774, at the conclusion of dinner, Clement XIV. 
 felt a great uneasiness of the chest, stomach and 
 intestines, accompanied with a chill, which he as- 
 cribed to accident, and recovered his composure 
 by degrees. The first evil symptom which showed 
 itself was a weakness of voice, appearing to indicate 
 some extraordinary kind of catarrh ; in consequence 
 of which it was resolved, that during divine service 
 at St. Peter's, on Easter Day, the Pope's seat sliould 
 be guarded against the cold air ; every body pre- 
 sent observed the change in his voice. An inflam- 
 mation of the mouth and throat soon succeeded, 
 and gave hiiii a great deal of i>ain, obliging him to 
 keep his mouth almost always open. Then followed 
 
SCiriO DE lUCCI. 11 
 
 vomitings at intervals, with excessive pains in the 
 bowels, renal obstruction, and a gradual weakness 
 in the body and legs ; so that he lost his sleep, and 
 witli it iiis alacrity in walking. Such, however, 
 was his courage, that he concealed these indications, 
 thougli there is no doubt that he had resorted to the 
 use of pills, by way of antidote to the poison which 
 he was persuaded had been administered to him. 
 The Pope continued in this state during all the 
 months of May, June, and July, concealing the de- 
 ca}'^ of his strength and his other symptoms, whilst a 
 rumour was gaining ground that he could not long 
 survive. Some persons went so far as to appoint the 
 I6th of July as the day of his death; and after that 
 time had passed over, October was fixed upon, in 
 conformity with letters from Germany and other 
 parts. 
 
 " In July he began the use of medicinal waters, 
 which it was his annual custom to drink, in conse- 
 quence of an acrid humour which attacked him in 
 the summer. It was remarked that tliis year the 
 usual eruption did not come to his I'eUef, in suffi- 
 cient abundance, till the beginning of August ; and 
 he continued the habit of holding his mouth open, 
 suffering also from weakness and the sore throat, 
 together with excessive perspirations, which last 
 were supposed to have been brought on designedly 
 by his Holiness, as conducive to the recovery of his 
 health. He gave audiences to the ministers towards 
 the end of August, notwithstanding the pain and 
 
12 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 feebleness occasioned by his illness, which had de- 
 prived him of his natural cheerfulness and affability, 
 and had rendered him irritable and capricious, so 
 that it required the united force of a cultivated un- 
 derstanding and a pious temper to moderate the 
 pressure of his bodily infirmities, and to restore his 
 habitual urbanity. At this juncture a letter was re- 
 ceived by the Secretary for the " Affairs of Jesuits," 
 from the Vicar-general of Padua, informing him 
 that some ex-jesuits had appeared before him, 
 and had indulged in the most violent imprecations 
 against the Pope, asserting that the month of Sep- 
 tember would terminate his existence. 
 
 " An engraving was also published in Germany, 
 exhibiting, on the left hand the figure of Death, with 
 the likeness of Christ on a flag : on the i-ight side 
 was a staff, supporting a sort of tabernacle, in which 
 was represented an ex-jesuit, dressed in the habili- 
 ments of a secular priest. At the top, were the 
 letters IHS, and at the bottom, the inscription Sic 
 Jinis erit! (Behold the end!) There were, besides, 
 some German verses, declaring that although the 
 Jesuits had been compelled to alter their dress, they 
 never would change their opinions, and immediately 
 afterwards, the following text from 1 Kings, xxxv. 
 18._qVoD bonVM est. In oCVLIs s^Is faCIet. 
 The letters printed in capitals, when joined together, 
 give the number MDCCLVWVIIII, 1774, the 
 year in wliich Clement died. 
 
 " A fever suj)ervened to the symptoms described 
 
SCTVTO DE RICCI. 13 
 
 above. Tliis l)ai)pcncHl on tlie evening of the 
 10th September. It was accompanied by a sort of 
 fainting, and an excess of debility, which seemed 
 to threaten the speedy extinction of life. Ten 
 ounces of blood were taken from him the same 
 niglit, without any sign of inflammation ; nor did 
 his breatliing, his chest, his bowels, or his evacu- 
 ations give any cause for alarm. The coagulation 
 of the blood took place in a satisfactory manner, 
 notwithstanding the declared opinion of his physi- 
 cian, that the comj)laint arose from a deficiency of 
 serum, caused by the profuse perspirations his Ho- 
 liness had undergone. He was free from fever on 
 the morning of the 11th, and continued so during 
 the whole day ; he had so much recovered on the 
 12th, that he wished to take his usual walk on the 
 14th and 15th, and even thought himself equal to 
 the fatigue of going to the Castel Gandolfo, where 
 he seemed to enjoy the prospect of spending his 
 time in the country, according to his custom at that 
 season. 
 
 " But on the 15th he relapsed into his former 
 weakness, to which was added a deep sleep, night 
 and day, till the 18th, when he awoke for a few 
 minutes. On the 19th it was perceived that he 
 had fever, together with a swelling of the abdomen 
 and retention of water. Some blood was taken from 
 him, which, however, gave no sign of inflammation. 
 Besides which, the bowels, when pressed, caused him 
 no uneasiness, and his breathing and chest were 
 
14 
 
 MElSrOIRS OF 
 
 j>crfectly unincumbered. An access of fever in the 
 evening made it necessary to repeat the bleeding, 
 and the same operation was renewed on the 20th, 
 althougli the pulse had become softer, and the swell- 
 ing had abated. This satisfactory state went on 
 improving, till his Holiness was considered to be 
 rather better. But tlie inflammation returned in 
 the evening, and the hope of his amendment had so 
 far disappeared, as to make it appear proper to pre- 
 sent him with tlie holy viaticum. 
 
 " He passed a night of great agitation. On the 
 21st he was bled again. The fever, the swelling, 
 and the retention still continued. At length the ex- 
 treme unction was administered to him that even- 
 ing, and about half past seven o'clock, on the morn- 
 ing of the 22d September, 1774, he surrendered his 
 soul into the hands of its Author, sanctified by con- 
 trition and piety. 
 
 " About the same hour on tlie succeeding day, they 
 proceeded to open and embalm the body, when the 
 countenance was already observed to be livid, the 
 lips and nails were black, and the back had assumed 
 a dark complexion. The aljdomen was swelled, and 
 the whole body emaciated, with a sort of cedar colour 
 approaching to the appearance of ashes, but which, 
 nevertheless, allowed here and there to be seen some 
 livid spots beneath the skin about the arms, the 
 sides, and the lower extremities. 
 
 " On dissection, it was discovered that inflamma- 
 tion and gangrene had connnenced in the left lobe of 
 
SCll'TO 1)E RICCI. 15 
 
 tlie lungs, atUicring to tlie pleura ; the opposite lobe 
 was also inflamed. They were both loaded with 
 ])lood ; and when the J^nife was put into them a san- 
 guineous discharge took place. The pericardium was 
 opened, and tlie heart was diminished in size by the 
 total \\'ant of those humours which are found in 
 that meml)rane. Beneath the diapln-agm, the sto- 
 mach and intestines were filled with wind, and in 
 the last stage of mortification. The oesophagus was 
 inflamed throughout its whole interior, as far as the 
 pylorus and the small intestines, with an evident ten- 
 dency to gangrene, as well as the upper and lower 
 divisions of the stomach ; and all these parts, as well 
 as the intestines, were covered over with a fluid 
 which the pliysicians call black bile. The liver 
 was small, and in its upper portion contained some 
 particles of serum ; the gall-bag was unusually dis- 
 tended, and was observed to contain a great quan- 
 tity of atrabilious fluid ; a large deposit of lymph 
 had also taken place in the cavity of the belly ; the 
 dura mater was swelled, but presented no remarkable 
 appearance in itself, except that of flaccidity. The 
 intestines and viscera were placed in a vase, whicli 
 burst open about an hour after sunset, filling the 
 chamber with an insufferable stench, notwithstand- 
 ing the embalming had only been finished a few 
 hours before. On the next morning, 24th Septem- 
 ber, it was considered necessary to call in some phy- 
 sician ; he found the smell unabated, the counte- 
 nance swelled aiid discoloured, and the hands quite 
 
16 MEMOIliS OF 
 
 black. On the l)ack of tlic hands bladders had risen 
 as high as two fingers, running across each other, 
 and filled with lixivial matter, as if blistered with 
 some boiling or ardent fluid. 
 
 " Besides this a great quantity of serous humour, 
 mixed with clotted blood, trickled down the lower 
 side of the bed, and spread profusely over the floor. 
 Tliis circumstance very much surprised the pro- 
 fessional attendants, especially considering that life 
 had not been extinct four-and-twenty hours, and 
 that every precaution had been resorted to by cleans- 
 ing the body, and removing the viscera, as well as 
 by embalming. It was consequently proposed to 
 enclose the body in a coffin, but the master of the 
 house (major domo) suggested that such a step was 
 likely to have a bad effect upon the public mind, 
 and prevailed upon them to be satisfied with such 
 means as their art afforded. The pontifical habi- 
 liments, when removed, carried away with them a 
 large portion of the skin and even of the cutis. 
 The thumb nail on the right hand was detached, 
 and on trying the other, every person present was 
 convinced that the slightest movement was sufficient 
 to separate all the nails in succession. 
 
 " In the dorsal region all the muscles were 
 disunited and decomposed to such a degree, that 
 towards the middle of the back and by the side 
 of the spine, for the size of three fingers, there was 
 found a large lump formed of the supercostal and 
 intercostal muscles — on making two incisions the 
 embalming was seen entire in the chest. 
 
SCIPIO DE KICCI. 17 
 
 " Except on tlie legs and thighs, a sort of breaking 
 out was observed all over the body. Various ad- 
 ditional i)recautions were employed, and the inci- 
 sions that were made caused a discharge of fluid 
 which had the appearance of bubbles. 
 
 " It was also remarked that a great part of the 
 hair of the head had adhered to the pillow ; and, 
 in short, notwithstanding the body was embalmed 
 afresh, and every endeavour was made by the as- 
 sistants, it was found absolutely necessary to enclose 
 it, after its removal to St. Peter's, in spite of the 
 suspicious caution with which the medical examin- 
 ers expressed themselves. Many of the circum- 
 stances here related were rumoured throughout 
 Rome, though with some variation ; and the peo- 
 ple were shocked to the last degree, by the full 
 persuasion that the Pope had been poisoned by 
 means of the Acquetta, which is made in Calabria 
 and Perugia, and which, according to common opi- 
 nion, has the property of destroying life in the gra- 
 dual manner I have described. 
 
 "Intelligent persons compared together the various 
 prophecies which had been set afloat, and which 
 certainly did not proceed from the spirit of God, 
 since they were in a great measure falsified by the 
 event. In addition to which, we must bear in mind 
 the false reports, the engravings, the threats, the 
 internal commotion that seized Clement XIV, the 
 inflammation of his throat and mouth, the aradual 
 decay of his strength, the chill, the swelling of the 
 
 c 
 
18 MElSrOIES OF 
 
 belly, the renal obstruction, the hoarseness, the 
 vomitings, and finally, the livid discoloration of 
 the flesh and nails, the loss of their tenacity, and 
 that of his hair, the dry state of the heart, and the 
 other symptoms which I have enumerated. After 
 all these facts, it seems hardly conceivable that an 
 inflammatory disorder, as the physicians named it, 
 without some violent cause, should leave the blood 
 without any indication of fever during nine suc- 
 cessive days. Those persons, though unpractised 
 in the profession, thought themselves authorised in 
 applying to the case of Clement XIV, the dis- 
 tinguishing signs of poison, pointed out by Paul 
 Zacchia, a celebrated Roman physician." 
 
SCIFIO DK RICCI. 19 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Pius VI. elected Pope. — Ricci, at Rome, refuses to enter into 
 the Prelacy. — The Correspondence of Ricci with the last 
 General of the Jesuits. — The Trial of the ex-General, and 
 his Protestations of Innocence. — Ricci appointed Vicar-Ge- 
 neral of the Archbishop of Florence. — Efforts of the Grand 
 Duke Leopold for the diffusion of Knowledge, and the oppo- 
 sition of the See of Rome. 
 
 Angelo Braschi ascended the pontifical throne 
 upon the death of Ganganelli. He owed his for- 
 tune to the General of the Jesuits, who had obtained 
 for him the situation of Treasurer of the Court of 
 Rome, under the reign of Clement XIII. ; but, how- 
 ever desirous, he could not do any thing for the 
 society, or its imprisoned chief. It is supposed that 
 the Bourbon princes, before the dissolution of the 
 Conclave, obtained from him a promise to this effect. 
 When it was discovered that he was on the eve of 
 publishing a decree, by which he annulled all the 
 acts and rescripts granted, in the last months of his 
 life, by the deceased Pontiff, on the ground that the 
 
 c 9, 
 
20 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 weakness of liis intellect afforded opportunities of 
 abusing his signature, these courts took the precau- 
 tion of having the Jive or slv last months specified. 
 By this means, they hindered the epoch of the Brief 
 of Suppression from being comprised in this measure, 
 as might have been the case, if an indeterminate or 
 too long a period liad been named, as was perhaps the 
 original intention. 
 
 Ricci went to Rome in 1775, to attend the re- 
 joicing consequent on the exaltation of the new 
 Pope. His relation to the ex-General, (he passed for 
 his nephew, though he really was more distantly 
 related,) the friendship of the Tuscan cardinal, Tor- 
 rigiani, who was devoted to the Jesuits, his reputa- 
 tion for moderation and impartiality, which he had 
 attained by his prudence in not taking any part in a 
 quarrel then so important, caused him to be requested 
 to enter into the prelacy ; in which, under the present 
 circumstances of the Pope, he had every chance of 
 Ijrilliant success. He resisted the temptation, giving 
 these reasons for his disinclination : " I saw the 
 dangers of such a career, and having well examined 
 the intrigues and cabals of the Court of Rome, I per- 
 ceived that no where so much as there, is the possibi- 
 lity of continuing to be a honest man incompatible 
 with the idea of what is called making one's fortune, 
 and rising to elevated situations. If any one has 
 succeeded there in preserving his honour, and re- 
 niaining a perfect Christian, after having entered into 
 the career of the prelacy, I say that he is the vara 
 
SCIPIO DE IIICCI. 21 
 
 avis in tcrris : I made a resolution not even to think 
 of it. So great a horror had I conceived for tlie 
 tricks and dissimulation which I saw openly prac- 
 tised in the prelacy, that I could not conceal from 
 my friends tlie disgust which I felt, at seeing the 
 vileness and the courtier-like adulations to which 
 tliey were compelled to debase themselves.*' It 
 should not be forgotten that this is said by a pious 
 man, a zealous Catholic, and a bishop. 
 
 Ricci, during his stay at Rome, applied for liberty 
 to see his confined relative ; but in vain. In the 
 course of the interview which he obtained from the 
 Pope for the purpose of making this request, his 
 holiness, knowing him to be a Florentine, could not 
 conceal his chagrin at the ecclesiastical reforms car- 
 rying on by the House of Austria, and by Leopold 
 in particular. He then referred him, as to the matter 
 of his request, to his auditor. Cardinal Giraud, who, 
 after some evasions, refused the required permission. 
 But, in spite of all their precautions, Ricci contrived 
 to carry on a correspondence with the General, by 
 means of a soldier named Serafini, who was his guard; 
 and, through his agency, he received from his unfortu- 
 nate relation a copy of his examination at the Castle 
 of St. Angelo, and his solemn denial of the justice of 
 the charges brought against him. These documents, 
 which are very minute and circumstantial, were 
 found amongst the papers of Ricci. Although they 
 contain particulars of which the interest has greatly 
 passed away, they are curious, as furnishing authentic 
 
22 ME^IOIRS OF 
 
 evidence of the pertinacity with which the last leader 
 of this formidable body denied the crimes imputed 
 to himself and his society. His imprisonment, which 
 only terminated with his life, seems to have been an 
 act of great injustice, as far as it was borne out by 
 the examinations to which he was subjected. The 
 following extract from these examinations relates to 
 one of the most current charges against the Jesuits, 
 and is, perhaps, at the present day, the only interest- 
 ing part which we can select from the abundant 
 materials found amongst the papers of Ricci : — 
 
 " 18th Question. Had you concealed any money 
 or property in the convent of Jesus ? Had you sent 
 any money from Rome for the purpose of saving it, 
 or had others, with your consent and knowledge, done 
 those things ? — Answer. This question relative to 
 money was the first that had been proposed to me. 
 Mr. Andreetti informed me, tliat it was supposed 
 the money which had been concealed, amounted to 
 the sum of fifty millions Italian currency ; or 
 10,700,000/. sterling. In a subsequent inten-oga- 
 tory, he told me twenty-two or twenty-five millions, 
 or 4,708,000/. or 5,350,000/. sterling. He observed 
 that such a concealment made tempore /labili, would 
 not have been criminal. 1 then replied, that I had 
 neither concealed money or property in any secret 
 place whatever, nor had any other person so done, 
 with my knowledge or consent. That an individual 
 having made me a proposal, respecting the conceal- 
 ment of property, I had disapproved of the idea, 
 
SCIPIO DE IIICCI. 23 
 
 and deterred him from his project. That a certain 
 sum had been recently forwarded to Genoa, belong- 
 ing to a foreign mission, which had been entered in 
 the books of the procurator-general ; that it had not 
 been sent, in order to be preserved, but appropriated 
 to the purposes of the destined mission. On being 
 asked to whom the same had been addressed at 
 Genoa, I replied I did not know, as that was not 
 under my jurisdiction ; that neither myself, nor any 
 one to my knowledge or with my permission, had 
 expedited a farthing from Rome, or placed any as- 
 sets in the banker's hands, for the purpose of pre- 
 serving the same, not even to the amount of a frac- 
 tion. Finally, that the idea of the vast amount of 
 our wealth, either concealed or amassed, was false ; 
 that it was a popular report void of foundation, in- 
 vented perhaps by some malevolent persons, or arising 
 from the splendour in which we kept our churches ; 
 that it was a chimera, a delusion, absolute mad- 
 ness, and that I felt astonished how persons of edu- 
 cation should have given credit to such a fable. 
 That they ought to feel persuaded and convinced of 
 the falsehood of such reports, from the fruitless re- 
 searches that had been made during so long a period, 
 and in such a singular manner, to find this pretended 
 hoard of wealth in Rome and various other territories. 
 " 19th Question. What money did the Jesuits of 
 other countries send to Rome ? Answer. As much 
 as was necessary for the sui)port of the persons at- 
 tached to the several departments in the offices of 
 
24 iAIEMOIIlS OF 
 
 the General, and as miieh as would serve to defray 
 the common expenses of the order. — How much did 
 that money amount to ? — My answer was that I did 
 not know. — ^To whom was the same forwarded at 
 Rome ? — AnsAver. To the procurator of each di- 
 vision, or to the procurator-general. — Has there 
 been any account given in of such money to the Ge- 
 neral ? — Answer. I took no account of it, because 
 the procurator of the departments accounted for 
 such sums themselves, to the procurators of the pro- 
 vinces from whence they came. 
 
 20th Question. Was any money forwarded to the 
 General for his own use, and of which he had liberty 
 to dispose ? — Answer. I received some assets every 
 year, but very little ; I always made use of them for 
 the community, either to support the Portuguese, or 
 for the convent of Jesus : I never appropriated one 
 farthing to my own private purposes. 
 
 21st Question. — How did the Portuguese monks, 
 who had been expelled the kingdom, and sent to 
 Rome, support themselves, without being allowed 
 any pensions ? — Answer. By the assistance of the 
 whole community, as usually happens in similar cases. 
 Such assistance having almost wholly failed, on ac- 
 count of the society being expelled from Spain, Na- 
 ples, Sicily, Parma, and owing to other circumstan- 
 ces, the Portuguese subsisted on charitable donations 
 which they received ; on monies they themselves col- 
 lected by performing masses ; by the sale of plate be- 
 longing to several churches; by disposing of the various 
 
SCI PI O DE KICCI. 25 
 
 paintings, as well as a quantity of furnitiiie, not, 
 however, until the requisite permission had been ob- 
 tained : — they were also enabled to support them- 
 selves by means of pensions derived from the charity 
 of Clement XIII, but of which they were sub- 
 sccpiently deprived by Clement XIV ; and by the 
 charity of foreigners." 
 
 The following is the protest which the ex-Gene- 
 ral made of his innocence : " Considering how un- 
 certain it is at what time it may please the Almighty 
 to call me to him, and considering that the time 
 cannot be far distant, on account of my advanced 
 age, added to the multitude and the long continu- 
 ance of those cares which oppress me with a weight 
 beyond my strength, I feel that I ought not to de- 
 lay any longer the performance of this duty, be- 
 cause it is very possible that my mortal illness may 
 be of such a nature as to render me incapable of 
 fulfilling it in my last moments. 
 
 " I therefore now look upon myself on the eve of 
 appearing before tlie Divine tribunal, the only tribu- 
 nal whose decrees are founded upon truth, which 
 knows no falsehood, and upon justice, which knows 
 no change. Having long and deeply meditated upon 
 the act I am about to perform, and having humbly 
 implored my merciful Redeemer and terrible Judge, 
 that he will not allow me to be swerved by passion 
 in this last solemn duty, I put far away from me 
 all bitterness of spirit, and all im worthy purpose ; 
 and being moved by no other consideration than the 
 
20 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 sense of what I owe to truth and innocence, I now 
 make the two following declarations and protestations. 
 
 " In the first place, I protest and declare that the 
 suppressed Society of Jesus has done nothing to 
 justify its abolition. I make this declaration and 
 protestation with the full force of all that moral cer- 
 tainty which a Superior must have the means of feel- 
 ing with respect to what passes in his Order. 
 
 " In the second place, I declare and protest, that 
 I have never given any reason, not even the slight- 
 est, for my imprisonment. I make this declaration 
 and protestation with that perfect and clear convic- 
 tion which every man must feel respecting his own 
 actions. This second declaration is made solely 
 because it is necessary to the just reputation of the 
 suppressed Society of Jesus, of which I was the 
 General. 
 
 " I am far, however, from wishing to affirm that 
 any person who may have injured either the society 
 or me, is to be considered guDty in the eyes of God ; 
 for myself I refrain from pronouncing any such 
 judgment. The workings of the human soul are 
 known only to its Maker ; He alone can see the 
 errors of man's understanding, and can judge if they 
 are of a nature to excuse the faults he commits ; He 
 alone can penetrate the motives and the purposes of 
 our actions, and the sentiments and emotions by 
 which those actions are accompanied. Since these 
 are the things which determine the guilt or inno- 
 cence of all external acts, I leave the judgment in 
 
SCIPIO DE RICCI. 37 
 
 the hands of Him ' who shall try tiie works, and 
 search out the counsels.' Wisdom vi. v. 4. 23. 
 
 " And to fulfil my duty as a Christian, I declare 
 that I have always forgiven, and do now sincerely 
 forgive, with Divine assistance, all those who have 
 tormented and hurt me; first, by injuring the Society 
 of Jesus, and harshly ti'eating its members ; next, by 
 suppressing that society by the methods employed 
 for that purpose ; and lastly, by throwing me, their 
 chief, into prison, where I was made to endure all 
 sorts of vexations, in order to bring me by that 
 means into the greatest possible discredit : these 
 things are publicly known to all the world. Above 
 all, I pray to Almighty God, that through his tender 
 mercy, and the merits of Jesus Christ, He will par- 
 don the multitude of my transgressions; after that, 
 I pray that He will forgive the authors of all the 
 evils and injuries I have suffered, together with 
 those who have been instrumental to them. I de- 
 sire to die with this sentiment and prayer in my 
 heart. 
 
 " Finally, I beg and conjure whoever may see these 
 my present protestations and declarations, that he 
 will publish them to all the world, as far as may lie 
 in his power; and I beg and conjure him to do so in 
 the name of all those motives of humanity, of justice, 
 and of Christian charity, which can prompt him to 
 assist in the accomplishment of the wish and will I 
 have here expressed. 
 
 " LoiiENzo Ricci, in my own hand." 
 
28 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 It may not be improper here to notice, tliough 
 somewhat out of the order of date, that the death of 
 the ex-General of the Jesuits took place at the Castle 
 of St. Angelo, in November 1775. His imprison- 
 ment commenced on the 17th of August, 1773. 
 His confidence in the affection of his relative Scipio 
 de llicci appears to have been unbounded, if we 
 may judge from the measure of the duty which he 
 imposed upon him, inasmuch as he charged the 
 reverend father who attended him to convey his 
 dying wish that Ricci would recommend him to 
 the Almighty by as many masses as he could say, 
 seeing that he was deprived of about 22,000, which 
 would have been performed had he expired as 
 General of the Society of Jesuits. 
 
 After his visit to Rome in 1775, Ricci returned 
 to Florence. He had scarcely arrived, when he was 
 made Vicar-general, and Vicar ad causas to the Arch- 
 bishop Incontri. This prelate had been formerly an 
 enemy to the Jesuits, and one of his books, ' Degli 
 atti umani,' had been condemned loudly by them. 
 But of late years he was won over to their party. 
 About the time when Ricci was created Vicar-ge- 
 neral, he had given the liberty to the suppressed 
 Jesuits to preach and confess ; but their seditious 
 behaviour awoke the attention of the Government, 
 and the Prince, by a letter to the bishops, adopted 
 the circular of Clement XIV, by which these duties 
 had been forbidden to the Jesuits. 
 
 In his new situation, Ricci uoon displayed his 
 
scirio DE RircT. 29 
 
 Jansenist princi[)les, though tlicy were not carried 
 so far as afterwards in liis bishopric. His designs 
 were ojiposed by the Archbishop ; but that oppo- 
 sition was niuc^h weakened by the administration of 
 Leopold. At this period Rome saw with great dis- 
 })leasure the Grand Duke a])i)lying himself entirely 
 to encourage education, and to destroy the reign of 
 ignorance, which she had consolidated under her 
 false pretensions. She opposed his views as much 
 as she could ; endeavoured to ])ut down the ob- 
 noxious catechism of Colbert, to stop the printing of 
 the Ecclesiastical History of Racine, translated by 
 some young priests under the auspices of the Go- 
 vernment ; and made efforts to check an edition of 
 Machiavel, prepared by the Abbot Tanzini, and Fol- 
 lini, Ricci's secretary, from manuscripts in his pos- 
 session. This last opposition, however, proceeded 
 only from the local authorities, for when Incontri, the 
 Archbishop, endeavoured to hinder Tanzini from 
 prosecuting his task, by prohibiting him to read a 
 woi'k so strictly forbidden as that of Machiavel, Ricci, 
 by applying at Rome, obtained for him a licence for 
 reading it. 
 
 We may remark here, that among the important 
 services rendered by the Jansenists to philosophy, one 
 of the most important was their contending for 
 liberty of thought and writing. The publication 
 of these writings in Tuscany was a benefit, so far as 
 it sapped the despotism of the priesthood, and was 
 
30 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 a victory over that redoubtable power, of wliicli it 
 was above all necessary to destroy the reputation of 
 being invincible. A daring publication of Machia- 
 vel, that inflexible historian of the Popes and their 
 court, whom Rome has particularly prohibited, and 
 the free reading of whose works proved the con- 
 tempt entertained of the Pontifical index — this 
 act alone was a benefit to the whole world. 
 
sciPio BE incci. 31 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Elevation of Scipio de Ricci to the Bishopric of Pistoia and 
 Prato — Discontent of the Pope at the Ecclesiastical Reforms 
 of the Grand Duke Leopold. — General view of the differences 
 between the Civil and Spiritual Government of Tuscany pre- 
 vious to the accession of Leopold. — The Senator Rucellai. — 
 His labours to free Tuscany from the despotism of the Court 
 of Rome. — His IMemoir on the famous Bull In Cceiia Domitii. 
 
 The destiny of Ricci was changed by an event 
 which took place at this time, — the death of IppoHte, 
 Bishop of Pistoia. He died on the 22d of March, 
 1780. Ricci had no desire to undertake the laboui's 
 of the Episcopal office which it was wished that he 
 should accept, but he was in a manner forced to do 
 so by his friends. He was received very flatteringly 
 by the Pope, who, however, could not avoid repeating 
 frequently, " Ah ! your Grand Duke will have to 
 render an account to God, for so many of his actions 
 which are hurtful to the Church." Ricci replied, 
 *' that he hoped he should always enjoy from the Duke 
 full protection in favour of religion, and that he did 
 
32 ME]\IOIRS OF 
 
 not believe liiin capable of doing any thing ever so 
 sliglit against the interests of tlie Catholic Church.' 
 But the Pope would not be i)ersuaded, and added in 
 a grave tone, " You are young, but in time you will 
 see it !" and with these words he dismissed him. 
 
 Before we proceed to the very curious and in- 
 teresting details of the ecclesiastical abuses which 
 Ricci was the great instrument in detecting, and of 
 the reforms which he laboured to establish, in oppo- 
 sition to the Court of Rome, amongst a corrupt and 
 depraved priesthood, it may assist the reader in the 
 right understanding of the principal object of these 
 Memoirs, to collect at this point, into one view, the 
 scattered materials for the History of the Ecclesiastical 
 Reforms in Tuscany, which preceded the election of 
 Ricci to the Bishopric of Pistoia and Prato. Tliese 
 materials are to be found in the third volume of the 
 Life of Ricci by De Potter ; and tliough containing 
 many very curious details, they are so encumbered by 
 a mass of contemporary documents of the most tedi- 
 ous and unimportant nature, that we may be readily 
 excused for separating them from matters of very 
 limited importance, to reduce them into something 
 approaching to the shape of a connected narrative. 
 
 The Medici had always been very desirous of 
 the friendship of the Court of Rome, and had made 
 it the principal object of their ambition to pos- 
 sess influence with it. The election of the Popes, 
 in their time, had, in consequence, almost always de- 
 pended on the will of that family ; and all the 
 
scirio DE UTCci. 33 
 
 Catholic princes, who liad any points of importance 
 to cany with the See of Rome, had regularly endea- 
 voured to secure its good-will. In return for this 
 species of glory, the Medici permitted the Popes to 
 exercise an extensive autliority in Tuscany. 
 
 The Spanish government, which succeeded that of 
 the IVIedici, did not meddle with the affairs of the 
 Church, and matters remained on their former foot- 
 ing. 
 
 The Emperor Francis of Lorraine followed the 
 same course in the beginning of his reign ; but in 
 a short time a great change took place. Count 
 Richecourt was sent from Vienna, to put himself 
 at the head of the Regency, and to govern 
 Tuscany. Powerfully aided by Senator Rucellai, 
 Secretary of the Jurisdiction or Rights of the 
 Crown, (a species of minister for affairs connected 
 with the Catholic worship) — a man distinguished for 
 his learning, his integrity, his firmness, and his zeal 
 for the true interests of the Government, — Riche- 
 court resisted every attempt at usurpation on the 
 part of the Court of Rome, and opposed without in- 
 termission its iniquitous pretensions. From that 
 moment the two courts were at open war. 
 
 The first rupture which took place between them 
 arose from the acquisitions of property in mortmain, 
 which had been strictly forl^idden without the ex- 
 press permission of Government, by a law published 
 at Vienna on the 1st of February, 1751, and at 
 Florence on the 1st of March following. The Coun- 
 
 D 
 
34 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 sellor of State, Pompec Neri, and Senator Rucellai, 
 accompanied the publication of this law with instruc- 
 tions and explanations, in regard to the necessity of 
 preventing an increase of the prosperity of artijicial 
 families,'^ at the expense of natural families, or in- 
 dividuals, and the accumulation of wealth on the 
 part of the clergy. 
 
 These instructions and explanations are to be 
 found, along with the law alluded to, in the ar- 
 chives of the Ecclesiastical Tribunal (Jurisdizione) 
 at Florence. 
 
 This important measure, by means of which the 
 insatiable cupidity of the priests was intended to be 
 checked, was followed by an edict relating to the 
 censorship of printed works, which the Government 
 alleged ought to be submitted to the inspection of 
 the civil power, instead of the Inquisitor General of 
 Religion, who, until this period, had possessed the 
 exclusive management of this powerful engine for 
 retaining the Tuscans in ignorance. 
 
 To the complaints of Rome, the Regency of Tus- 
 cany replied by other complaints ; accusing the Flo- 
 rentine Inquisition of abusing its authority, and the 
 Inquisitor at Pisa of having almost murdered a poor 
 wretch, whom he had succeeded in passing off as a 
 heretic, although he had only been guilty of prevent- 
 ing his daughter from yielding to the seductions of 
 the Inquisitor, Avho was deeply smitten with her. 
 
 * JMeaning corporations, collegiate bodies, convents, &c. 
 
SCTPIO DE HTCt'T. 35 
 
 This event, with others of similar atrocity, in- 
 duced the Enijieror to order the prisons of the Inqui- 
 sition to be sluit, and to demand the consent of 
 I^ome to the addition of two lay assessors ; a mea- 
 sure which destroyed the inviolable secrecy hitherto 
 maintained in regard to the proceedings of that 
 dreadful triljunal, and deprived it of the means of 
 continuing its iniquities. 
 
 The reluctant consent of Rome was also procured, 
 about this time, to the suppression of several con- 
 vents of nuns by the Government. The Emperor 
 was also desirous of diminishing the excessive num- 
 ber of cures at Florence, on account of their inuti- 
 lity, their poverty, the indecency with which they 
 were managed, the small number of parishioners, the 
 short distance intervening betv/een one church and 
 another, and the great facility which they afforded 
 to criminals of escaping from the arm of the law. 
 The Emperor ceased to nominate curates, and the 
 parishes remained vacant. 
 
 Such is the substance of a very luminous memoir, 
 drawn up by Rucellai, on the differences with the 
 Court of Rome. Mention is also made in it of the 
 Inquisition, of which the Government had a short 
 time before recognized the legality, upon condition 
 that it should be organized on the same footing as 
 at Venice. The Holy Tiibunal at Florence had 
 established, without any privilege to that effect be- 
 ing conferred upon it, not only prisons but an arm- 
 ed police at the public expense ; and it succeeded 
 
 I) 2 
 
36 ]\n:MOiiJs of 
 
 easily, notwithstanding measures being taken to pre- 
 vent it, in eluding every restriction which was at- 
 tempted to be put on its authority. This was ac- 
 complished by means of a tacit understanding on the 
 subject between the Inquisitor and the Archbishop, 
 who remitted to the nunciature those cases of an 
 incpiisitorial nature, of whicli they did not choose 
 that the Government should take cognizance by 
 means of its assessors. 
 
 Besides these matters of a general nature, there 
 was also the private affair of Piccolomini de Siene, 
 Bishop of Pienza, who, pretending that he was sub- 
 ject to the Pope only, and not to the Emperor, had 
 carried his extravagance so far as to excommunicate 
 several of the officers of Government in his diocese, 
 and among others, a communal chancellor of Pienza, 
 Rutilus Gini. He had declared him liable to the 
 censures of the Bull " In dvna Domini ;"' and as he 
 had at the same time expressly forbidden those 
 priests who were under his authority, to administer 
 to Gini any of the sacraments of the Church, so 
 long as he should persist in, what the Bishop termed, 
 *' the public scandal of obeying the Government," 
 he was, from his inability to obtain absolution, pre- 
 vented also from marrying. 
 
 After twelve years' endurance of his conduct, the 
 Emperor had this extraordinary prelate conducted 
 to the frontiers of the Grand Duchy, under a guard 
 of soldiers. Piccolomini's turbulence caused him to 
 be received with much distinction by the Pope, Cle- 
 
sciPio DE mcci. 37 
 
 inent XIII, who warmly emljraced his cause, and 
 permitted him, within his own states, to excom- 
 municate tlie Emperor and all his ministers, and 
 to post up the sentence in the usual places. 
 
 There were also some differences between Tus- 
 cany and the Court of Rome, which arose out of 
 certain places being considered as asylums to which 
 criminals might repair for evading the punishments 
 of the law. These asylums the Government had 
 frequently been obliged to violate for the sake of 
 public justice; and the Court of Rome had pro- 
 mised to conclude a concordat in regard to them, 
 upon condition that they should all be respected 
 by the civil authorities during the time the nego- 
 tiations were pending. The Government kept its 
 promise ; but no progress was made in the nego- 
 tiation, and the asylums were full of criminals. 
 
 Such was the posture of affairs at the accession 
 of Leopold to the Grand Ducal crown. Both par- 
 ties were dreadfully exasperated. Tuscany looked 
 upon Cardinal Torrigiani, the Secretary of State, as 
 an artful and faithless priest ; while Rome consider- 
 ed Rucellai as her mortal enemy. 
 
 The least consideration of the measures adopted 
 by Leopold, and of the motives which induced him 
 to become a reformer of the external worship and 
 ecclesiastical discipline of his States, is sufficient to 
 demonstrate that he laid down as the principle of 
 all his operations, an invariable resolution to sepa- 
 rate distinctly what was spiritual from what was 
 
38 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 temporal ; never to intermeddle with the former in 
 any res])ect, and at the same time never to permit 
 the clergy to interfere in the smallest degree with 
 the latter. 
 
 He was always willing to yield to the clergy in 
 things which were strictly spiritual ; but at the 
 same time he fully determined not to succumb to 
 them in those which were not within their province. 
 In all his proceedings, he had nothing in view but 
 the good of the Church, and the interests of re- 
 ligion, to both of which he was sincerely devoted. 
 He wished that his bishops should apply directly to 
 himself in all their difficulties ; and showed himself 
 ready to assist them to the utmost of his power, 
 whenever a proper and useful end was in view. 
 But they lost all claims to his protection, and even 
 to his esteem, whenever they sought to interfere 
 in matters belonging to the State, witli which, he 
 said, they had no concern. It was his desire that 
 the clergy shovdd be respectable, in order that they 
 might be respected. 
 
 We shall endeavour to collect, from a variety 
 of elaborate documents preserved amongst the pa- 
 pers of Ricci, a brief view of the ecclesiastical re- 
 forms (it Leopold, previous to the period when he 
 received the zealous assistance of the Bishop of 
 Pistoia. 
 
 The Senator Rucellai, who, previous to the ac- 
 cession of Leopold to the throne of Tuscany, appears 
 to have been the most consistent and determined 
 
scirio Di: Ricci. 89 
 
 enemy to the abuses of the See of Home, drew up 
 for the information and guidance of his sovereign, 
 several very important and interesting memoirs, 
 not only on minute points of ecclesiastical discipline, 
 but on the great question of the right of the spi- 
 ritual power to interfere in matters of civil govern- 
 ment. One of the most remarkable of these do- 
 cuments, which have been all preserved in the 
 archives of the Ecclesiastical Tribunal, is that bear- 
 ing date the 14th of July, 1769, in wliich Rucellai 
 combats the pretensions of the Pope to interfere 
 with the civil obedience of the priests, by the ce- 
 lebrated Bull In Ccena Domini. An abridgment of 
 this memoir will be acceptable to our readers, as it 
 presents many points of peculiar interest to the 
 whole Christian community ; particularly at a pe- 
 riod when attempts are making throughout Europe 
 to revive that dominion of the Roman Catholic 
 priesthood, which might have been expected to 
 have been swept away in the great conflict of opi- 
 nions which has marked the last thirty years. 
 
 The Secretary Rucellai, in the memoir before us, 
 insists particularly upon the spirit which dictated 
 that eternal monument of priestly ambition, the 
 Bull In Ccena^ upon the consequences of its being put 
 in execution in Tuscany, on the means of opposing 
 it, and of resisting at the same time the attempts of 
 the Court of Rome against the rights of the Crown. 
 
 A sovereign, says he, owes it to his own dignity 
 and to justice, to defend both himself and his rights 
 
-iO :\IEMOIKS OF 
 
 against the invasions of tlie Bull In Cmui, and liis 
 subjects against the civil consequences of the mea- 
 sures with which it threatens them. 
 
 The foundation of the Romish authority is con- 
 tained in the " Body of Canon Law,"' and especially 
 in that part of it entitled " Pontifical Authority ;" it 
 is composed of bulls, letters, and replies of the Popes, 
 and of decrees of Assemblies of his Court, and is the 
 instniment by means of which Rome is enabled to 
 conv^ert the priesthood into an engine for the at- 
 tainment of its political views, even in the States of 
 others. 
 
 The Bull, known by the name of In Ca'?m Domini, 
 is a summary of all those ecclesiastical laws, which 
 tend to establish the despotism of the Court of 
 Rome ; a despotism which was the work of many 
 ages, which was watered with the blood of many 
 millions of human creatures, founded with the spoils 
 of many debased sovereigns, and raised on the ruins 
 of many overturned thrones. The principles of that 
 Bull pervade, and are interwoven with, every part 
 of the canon law, which is publicly taught in Catho- 
 lic seminaries. 
 
 The Bull Li Ccena was the origin of those scanda- 
 lous differences between the priesthood and the Em- 
 pire, which happened in the eleventh century ; dif- 
 ferences totally unknown until the Church began to 
 speak a language invented by the Court of Rome, 
 in order to abuse with impunity the power of the 
 keys, by means of the factions of the Guelfs and 
 
SCIPIO DE RICCl. 41 
 
 Ghibelliucs, vvhicli she broiiglit forth and fostered. 
 It was the origin also of the Incjuisition, which it 
 supported in its greatest enormities, of the crusades, 
 of its censorships, interdicts, &c. &c. ; all these it 
 employed, first to balance, and tlien to pull down 
 the different powers of the Empire ; to strip it of 
 one part of its States in Italy, and out of them to 
 erect itself into a species of new monarchy. 
 
 Sovereigns, not un frequently deposed by their 
 subjects, or rather by the subjects of the priesthood, 
 and being incessantly threatened by fanatics who 
 were devoted to the Church, were compelled by ne- 
 cessity to trust their defence to the pens of civilians. 
 Their rights, or the rights of the empire, were ably 
 supported by Pierre Cugn^res, Paris, Pierre des 
 Vignes, Marsile of Padua, and Dante, of all of 
 whom the Court of Rome found little difficulty in 
 getting rid, by declaring them attainted and con- 
 victed of heresy — at that period, the most dreadful 
 of all crimes. 
 
 This attempt, which ended so unfortunately for 
 its first promoters, was the origin and beginning of 
 the religious reformation, which was finally adopted, 
 with the exception of France, by every nation which 
 was not inclined to remain in a state of slavery. 
 The kings of France, who dreaded a reform, suc- 
 ceeded in avoiding it, by allowing their subjects to 
 be harassed by those civil wars which Rome lighted 
 up under the pretext of religion ; by maintaining 
 endless disputes with her ; and at length by accept- 
 
42 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 ing a system of rights, professedly granted to them 
 alone, under the name of the " Privileges of the 
 French Chnrcli," which the Court of Rome abhors 
 at heart fully as much as reform and heresy. 
 
 Italy, where the love of political liberty had ren- 
 dered the people almost vassals of the Court of 
 Rome, which they defended against the Emperors, 
 not because they thought its pretensions well found- 
 ed, but because it defended them in its turn, with 
 the only weapons which could be advantageously 
 employed against those of the Empire, — excommuni- 
 cations and interdicts, — Italy was subjected to all 
 the abuses arising out of the sacerdotal system. To 
 this we may add the mercantile spirit which the Ita- 
 lians of these times considered as the main spring 
 both of political principles and events, and we shall 
 then have no difficulty in believing that they con- 
 ceived themselves interested in supporting the Court 
 of Rome in every measure and enterprise, however 
 luyust, in order to secure to it that supreme autho- 
 rity over the Catholic world, which attracted to them 
 the riches and wealth of all Europe. 
 
 Rome, considered in a political point of view, was 
 at that period the bulwark of Italian liberty ; in a 
 mercantile point of view, the source and cause of 
 Italian prosperity. To maintain this character, it 
 was necessary she shoidd preserve her power, and 
 this she could only do by means of the gross delusion 
 of pontifical authority. 
 
 Scarcely liad the new Italian Governments been 
 
SCIPIO DE IIICCI. 43 
 
 lid of all fear, in regard to their independence troni 
 abroad, than they began to dread encroachment on 
 the part of the sacerdotal body, and changed imme- 
 diately their system and their conduct. AVithout 
 openly declaring their opposition to the intolerable 
 pretensions of the Court of Rome, they endeavoured 
 to invalidate them by means of new laws, all passed 
 about the same period, whose object was to restrain 
 the papal authority, and the personal immunities of 
 the clergy. 
 
 To speak only of Tuscany, it was about that pe- 
 riod that the bishops and the tribunals of the Inqui- 
 sition were deprived of their prisons and anned ser- 
 vants, and that steps were taken to jjrevent the lat- 
 ter, as much as possible, from doing mischief; that 
 the power of the bishops was limited, and the Court 
 of Rome restrained from appointing them according 
 to her caprice ; that the temporal portion of bene- 
 tices became dependent on the public authority, from 
 which the Exequatur took its origin ; that opposition 
 was indirectly made to the too frequent transference 
 of property into the hands of the clergy, and that 
 measures were taken to subject any new acquisitions, 
 which they might be ena])led to make, to the same 
 changes as other property similarly situated. 
 
 This indirect method, however, of opposing the 
 Court of Rome, was soon neutralized bv that same 
 court, so well skilled in the art of invention. She 
 brought forward what she termed " Ecclesiastical 
 Privilege,'' — an occult right, comprehending every 
 
ju'etension whicli Rome has put fortli till the present 
 time, or which she may wish to put forth in future. 
 By means of this pretended right, it is impossible to 
 imagine a single human action, over which she may 
 not exert her influence and authority, if it is in any 
 conceivable way connected with her interests. 
 
 Every thing that was in the least degree incon- 
 sistent with, or contrary to this ecclesiastical privi- 
 lege, either directly or indirectly, was from that mo- 
 ment comprised in the Bull In Ccemi, and anathe- 
 matized as such. 
 
 This occurred in regard to the laws of which we 
 have just spoken. The Court of Rome maintained 
 that they were null and void, because they had not 
 been passed by legitimate authority. The States in 
 which they had been promulgated were excommu- 
 nicated, laid under an interdict, and attacked by the 
 temporal forces of the reigning Pontiffs, or l)y the 
 subjects of other States, whom the Court of Rome 
 had armed against their sovereigns, because these 
 sovereigns had ordered the laws passed in favour of 
 their subjects to be put in force. 
 
 Rome extended in this way its despotic autho- 
 rity over all the States of Italy, and in a special 
 manner over the Republic of Florence, until it 
 adopted the system pursued by the Si)anish civi- 
 lians. These authorities, taking the pretensions of 
 the Court of Rome for what they were, without any 
 examination of their merits, guarded the Govern- 
 
scirio DF. iiicci. 45 
 
 meiit against any abuse wliicli might result from 
 them, by demanding that every order or prohilii- 
 tion, and, generally speaking, every writing or do- 
 cument emanating from that court, whether of a 
 si)iritual or temi)oral nature, should be subjected to 
 a censorsliip. It was the duty of the censors to ex- 
 amine whetlier they were contrary to any existing 
 law of the State, and to take care that they should 
 not become binding until, with due consent from tlie 
 sovereign, they had been lawfully published in his 
 dominions. 
 
 The necessity of the E.requatur (of legal publica- 
 tion) is the basis of the jurisdiction and rights of the 
 Crown, in every State where the Roman Catholic 
 religion prevails ; and if the law were strictly exe- 
 cuted, and every infraction of it regularly punished, 
 the power of Rome would cease to be a subject of 
 alarm, as well as a source of mischief. 
 
 The Court of Rome was the first to perceive the 
 consequences which would necessarily result from 
 enforcing this law, and consequently to condemn it. 
 It declared all those who should order its execution^, 
 or who should execute it themselves, to be under the 
 censures of the Bull In Ccena ; l)ut even this pro- 
 duced not the desired effect, and Rome was ob- 
 liged to tolerate the existence of the Exequatur. 
 
 All its cunning is now employed in endeavouring 
 to elude it, which it sometimes does, even in the case 
 of the most enlightened Governments. The Govern- 
 
46 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 irient ought, consequently, to be always on its guard, 
 in order to detect its attempts, and to restrain the 
 clergy who abet them. 
 
 The difficulty lay in finding out in what way those 
 who transgressed the law of the E.veqiiatiir should 
 be punished. Rucellai gives it as his opinion, that 
 extra-judicial and summary punishments would be 
 unjust, because they savour, says he, so much of 
 arbitrary authority, which forms no part of a sove- 
 reign's rights. 
 
 Besides, says he, summary judgments are forcible 
 means, which the stronger party employs against the 
 weaker, because he cannot proceed against him in a 
 legal manner ; or, because those against whom he 
 puts them in practice, are not liable to the operation 
 of the law. Rucellai consequently does not judge 
 it prudent to allow, even tacitly, that the clergy are 
 in either of these predicaments ; as its only effect 
 would be to render the clergy more interesting and 
 venerable in the eyes of the people, and to augment 
 its authority by a diminution of that of the sovereign. 
 
 Rucellai was desirous that the priests should be 
 punished as transgressors of the national laws, and 
 that their obedience to the Bull /// Ccena should 
 cease to operate as an excuse for them ; not because 
 it was not published with the Edcquatur, (for it can- 
 not be concealed that it has been published every 
 where, is still published, and its principles taught in 
 the schools, and inculcated on penitents by their con- 
 fessors,) but because it was demonstratively \mjust, 
 
scipio Dr. i(i('(M. 47 
 
 subversive of all the rights of sovereignty, of law, 
 of good order, and of public tranquillity. 
 
 As lonff as the Government shall not have declared 
 itself openly and freely on the subject, it ought to 
 pity, rather than punish, the priests who are the 
 principal executors of the Bull In Caiiia in the peni- 
 tentiary chair, where they are only permitted to 
 decide according to the orders of their Bishop. The 
 Bishop, in his turn, is only an instrument of the 
 Court of Rome, and has been the wretched slave of 
 her caprice ever since she succeeded, by means of 
 false decretals, in stripping episcopacy of its just, un- 
 alienable, and imprescriptible rights, and in changing 
 into an oath of fidelity and vassalage that profes- 
 sion of faith which is made before being admitted 
 a member of the Church. 
 
 That oath is, in fact, a solemn promise, not only to 
 be unfaithful to ones lawful sovereign, but even to 
 betray him, as often as the interests of the Court of 
 Rome may render it necessary. 
 
 Governments, by allowing such an oath to be 
 taken, thereby recognize it as obligatory. 
 
 The priests who observe it, by putting in force the 
 Bull In Cana, and refusing absolution to those who 
 violate it, or who do not repent of having violated it, 
 are rebels to the Government of their country, which 
 has proscribed it ; those who do not observe it, are 
 necessarily perjured. 
 
 If the priests wlio have to decide between such 
 disagreeable alternatives are objects of pity, much 
 
48 MEiNIOIRS OF 
 
 more so are tliose i)ioiis ])coplc deserving of compas- 
 sion, who consider it tiieir duty to surrender tlieir 
 judgment into the hands of their pastor. 
 
 Rucellai proposes, as a remedy for all these con- 
 tradictions, to consider the Bull In Ccena as an 
 unjust civil law, enacted by the Pope, which he 
 A\ f)uld willingly put in force in the dominions of 
 other sovereigns, and to forbid, by an edict, its direct 
 or indirect publication. 
 
 It appeared preferable to Rucellai, that, by a de- 
 claration on the part of the ecclesiastical power itself, 
 both the priests and their hearers should be freed 
 from the obligation, in foro conscienticE, of observing 
 the Bull ; but such a declaration could only emanate 
 from the Pope, who would never make it, unless he 
 were compelled to it by an union of all the Catholic 
 Governments ; or, unless he saw clearly, that it was 
 as much his interest to annull it, as it was formerly 
 his interest to establish it, in despite of religion and 
 every thing that was sacred. 
 
 In the mean time, it will be necessary, says Ru- 
 cellai, to adhere to the proposed law, which, when 
 reduced into proper form, may be communicated to 
 the Court of Rome, in order that it may prevent its 
 publication by the only means in its power, namely, 
 the abrogation of the Bull. In the event of adopt- 
 ing this plan, it will be necessary to convince the 
 Court of Rome that Government has taken its deter- 
 mination, and that no negotiation or species of treaty 
 can take })lace on the subject. 
 
SCIPIO DE lllCC'I. 49 
 
 The order of the Grand Duke to suppress en- 
 tirely the Bull In Cctna Domini^ and the coninumd 
 never to mention it in future, in Tuscany, hecanie 
 the law of the land, according to the advice of ]lu- 
 cellai. But this law, before it could be brought into 
 full force, had to be frequently renewed. For ex- 
 ample, in a circular letter of the Secretary of Juris- 
 diction, addressed to the Bishop of Pistoia (Ricci's 
 predecessor) on the 7th of August, 1772, it is as- 
 serted that the Government had been ai)piised of 
 the Bull In Ccvna (proscribed in every Catholic State) 
 being still affixed to the sacristies and confessionals 
 of some churches of the Grand Duchy, and of some 
 persons having had the hardihood to publish it 
 from the pulpit or the altar, during tlie holy week. 
 
 De Potter here introduces an anecdote relating to 
 this Bull, which will help to illustrate the retrogres- 
 sion which every pretended restoration to which they 
 are subjected, causes in the people under the domi- 
 nion of arbitrary legitimacy. 
 
 " In 1815, RufTo, Archbishop of Naples, a relation 
 of the famous Cardinal Ruffo, published a list of 
 reserved cases, among which were infractions of the 
 Bull In Ca^na Domini. King Ferdinand IV. having 
 been informed of this violation of the laws of the 
 kingdom, ordered his minister for ecclesiastical af- 
 fairs to cause the list of reserved cases to be sup- 
 pressed by the Cardinal whose name it bore, and to 
 reprimand in severe terms the monk who had drawn 
 the prelate by his perfidious counsels into such an 
 
 E 
 
50 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 act of disobedience, threatening him at the same 
 time with banisliment from the NeapoHtan territory, 
 if he attempted again to disturb the public tranquil- 
 lity. 
 
 The minister, in executing the orders of his so- 
 vereign, employed one of his principal assistants, 
 Luc Cagnazzi, a priest and archdeacon, to write to 
 Cardinal RufTo. 
 
 After the fall of the Neapolitan constitutional 
 Government, when Ferdinand had been restored a 
 third time to the jrienitude of his sovereign good 
 pleasure, Luc Cagnazzi was stripped of his office, 
 solely and simply because he had, agreeal)ly to the 
 instructions of the minister, who only obeyed his so- 
 vereign, composed the letter in question : his dis- 
 missal was demanded by the Cardinal. 
 
 We have given such a long abstract of this very 
 eloquent and argumentative memoir, because the 
 Bull In Ccena is actually invoked by the Court* of 
 Rome ; because it regards it as still existing in full 
 force, and because it grants to its ministers even now- 
 a-daySy power to absolve tliose wlio might be weak 
 enough to believe that they had incurred its penalties. 
 After this dissertation, Rucellai adds, that all tliat 
 he has proposed is merely a precautionary measure ; 
 and that the sole political purpose of every measure 
 relating to religious jurisdiction ought to be to put 
 the clergy on a level with the laity, in as far as re- 
 lates to the duties of citizens, and to abolish all their 
 immunities, both real and personal ; and that while 
 
SCIPIO DE Riccr. 51 
 
 that end remains unaceomplished, there will always 
 be " a State within the State," and an everlasting 
 source of controversy and dispute. 
 
 He proposes, in order to attain sooner and more 
 certainly this end in Tuscany, that all the inferior 
 prelates possessing jurisdiction, such as abbots, 
 priors, guardians of convents, &c. should be obliged 
 to exhibit their election-patents, in order to obtain 
 their confirmation by Government, which should en- 
 deavour to keep them as much within its control 
 as possible. He proposes also, that they should be 
 subjected, as well as the bishops, to an oath of fide- 
 lity, which should bring both them and their juris- 
 diction within the immediate influence of the civil 
 authority. By the adoption of these measures, there 
 will be nothing to dread from those prisons, which 
 can scarcely be refused, for example, to several religi- 
 ous orders, and are tolerated by the State. The special 
 point is to prevent them from possessing clandestine 
 prisons, which would be infinitely worse than allow- 
 ing them legal ones, or permitting them to elude 
 the prohibition to possess them by any of those 
 equally criminal means, which theological morality, 
 of which they are the inventors, may suggest to 
 them. Experience proves that, in the present state 
 of things, the superiors of certain orders, which hold 
 a middle rank between cynicism and stoicism, make 
 frequently a very bad use of their prisons, concern- 
 ing which no regulation has been made by the civil 
 
 E 2 
 
52 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 authority, and which they nevertlieless cannot do 
 without, because reason alone is insufficient to se- 
 cure to them a proper degree of respect. It is 
 therefore an indispensable duty of the Government 
 to keep a \^^atchful eye on these prisons, in order 
 to ensure the safety of tliose individuals who are 
 obliged to live under a despotism, more uncontrolled 
 and absolute than that of an African tyrant. 
 
 The oath which must be required of them is only 
 the means of recalling to the minds of the priests 
 who take it, their natural duties as citizens — duties 
 which are born with them, and from which the ec- 
 clesiastical profession which they have since adopted, 
 cannot emancipate them. The oath must be so 
 clear as that those who conscientiously believe it 
 their duty to observe the Bull In Ccena^ may re- 
 fuse to take it, and also to accept the bishopricks 
 and preferments which can only be obtained by 
 taking it. 
 
 The sacerdotal power will remain invulnerable as 
 long as those who exercise it believe that they have 
 a right to be distinguished by peculiar privileges 
 and immunities from their fellow-citizens. Every 
 thing which reduces them to a level with the laity, 
 diminishes in the mind of tlie jiublic the idea of 
 their independence, and consequently destroys what 
 is in reality the true basis of Romish grandeur. 
 The oath by which they will be bound will cer- 
 tainly produce that effect, and will besides furnish 
 
SCIPIO DE RICCI. 5ti 
 
 a strong ground for proceeding against them in case 
 of their infringing the law. 
 
 It is highly probable that the Court of Rome will 
 oppose the taking of the new oath; and perhaps 
 go so far as to prohibit its being taken ; allow the 
 bishopricks to remain vacant, and by that means 
 render the administration of the sacraments more 
 unfrequent and more difficult ; but she will in that 
 case have to contend with the whole body of priests, 
 whose preferment and increase of revenue (the only 
 thing really interesting to them) it may have been 
 the means of checking, and that, too, for reasons 
 which scarcely affect them in any way. If the 
 Court of Rome can once be convinced that the Go- 
 vernment is determined not to yield in the struggle, 
 nor even to enter upon any negotiation for the pur- 
 pose of accommodating matters, from which, by 
 means of her usual chicanery, she could hope to 
 obtain any advantage, she will end by giving up 
 the point herself, lest she should lose the whole of 
 her rights in endeavouring to preserve a part of 
 them. From the moment that she takes such a 
 step, the promises which her clergy may make to 
 her, will appear to them only obligatory in so far 
 as they are not in opposition to the oath which they 
 had taken to Government with the consent of Rome 
 herself. 
 
 During the five centuries that Catholics have been 
 governed by pontifical authority, the Court of Rome 
 has employed all the means in her power, in order 
 
54 - MEMOIRS OF 
 
 to fix as an irrevocable })rinciple, that " the clergy 
 are not under the authority of the State in which 
 they reside," and that they are the subjects of Rome 
 alone, in as far as relates to their persons and pro- 
 perty. She has never, however, nor will she ever, 
 dare to avow such a principle openly ; all that she 
 requires is, that the clergy on whom she inculcates 
 that belief should be fully persuaded of its trutli. 
 They, on their part, pride themselves upon avowing 
 themselves in public the subjects of Government, 
 whenever it happens, which is not seldom, that it 
 suits their interest to profess it — that is, whenever 
 it happens that they are desirous either of bread or 
 of honours. Rome, on her part, cannot condemn 
 the oath which is proposed, on the score of novelty ; 
 for it has been taken in France and in other coun- 
 tries : nor can she condemn it on the score of its 
 being imposed upon individuals who are not subject 
 to the general laws of the kingdom ; for such a 
 proposition would be odious in the extreme, and 
 rouse the attention, even of the most careless Go- 
 vernments, to such unheard-of impudence and au- 
 dacity, especially at a time which is by no means 
 favourable to any usurpation on the part of Rome, 
 on a point so important and so delicate. 
 
 The right of the Eixquatiir is of very ancient 
 date in Tuscany, is more extensive in its oi)eration 
 than in any other country, and has never been 
 attacked, except by the Court of Rome. She, how- 
 ever, has a very simple method of evading it. As 
 
scirio DE lucci. 55 
 
 it is only necessary for the execution of decrees or 
 bulls before the civil tribunals, when that is requir- 
 ed, these decrees, whether bulls or briefs, if they 
 concern in the slightest degree the privileges of the 
 sovereign, are simply addressed as letters to the 
 Bishops and Inquisitors, who take care not to have 
 them printed in Tuscany ; all of them, consequently, 
 are in the same situation as the Bull In Cccna ; that 
 is to say, that though not rendered ojjligatory by 
 legitimate authority, they are actually put in force 
 by the Bishops, and by the Confessors in the dis- 
 charge of their duties ; — in a short time afterwards 
 they are inserted among the acts of the Diocesan 
 Synods, and in the Pastoral Instructions of the Pre- 
 lates, and thus become the law of the land, without 
 their existence having ever been recognised by it. 
 
 Rome fails not to take advantage of this defect 
 in the legislation of Tuscany, in order to rule in it 
 with supreme authority ; nor can she be prevented 
 from doing it, otherwise than by passing a new law 
 which shall be obligatory on the Bishops, their Epis- 
 copal Courts, and every one who is invested with 
 authority to execute the most trifling command of 
 the Court of Rome. Besides this, it will also be 
 necessary for the Secretary of Jurisdiction to pre- 
 serve all the bulls and briefs of that court, as well 
 as the decisions of its tribunals and congregations, 
 and after having examined them, to accompany 
 them with a report as to whether they are or are 
 not obligatory, in order that the Exequatur may be 
 
56 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 put in force, or the refusal of it, which Governinent 
 may have thought proper to make. A national 
 tribunal will also be necessary for taking cognizance 
 of the complaints of those who are wronged by the 
 ecclesiastical power, threatened with, or actually 
 lying under its censures ; and this tribunal nuist be 
 invested with authority sufficient to compel the 
 Bishops and their officials to suspend or revoke these 
 censures in the manner prescribed. 
 
 Censures are the only arms which the Court of 
 Rome can employ to gain the victory in her disputes 
 with the civil power in matters of jurisdiction ; and 
 they will become null and void when once it has 
 been established beyond the possibility of dispute, 
 that they can only take effect and be put in force 
 by means of tlie E.vequatu)\ which they must obtain 
 from that same civil authority. 
 
scirio i)E lucci. 57 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Anxiety of the Grand-duke to procure information on the abuses 
 of the Church. — Letter to him from Father Villensi, pointing 
 out some necessary changes. — Letter from a Nun, complain- 
 ing of the irregularities of her Convent. — IMemoir of Rucellai, 
 on the scandalous conduct of a Confessor. — Mendicant 
 Priests. — Abolition of the privileges of Sanctuaries. — Letter 
 of Rucellai on the abuses, both as to number and discipline, 
 of the Religious Orders. 
 
 The vigilant attention of Leopold to ecclesiastical 
 abuses in his dominions, was kept alive by the com- 
 munications which he invited and received from pri- 
 vate persons. Of the nature of this correspondence 
 we may collect some curious particulars from two 
 documents found amongst the archives of the reign 
 of Leopold. 
 
 Father Villensi, Friar of Santo Vito, addressed 
 to the ^Grand-duke, in 1768, a letter, in which he 
 suggests the best means of diminishing the abuses 
 which disgraced the religious system. 
 
 He begins by requesting his Royal Highness to 
 
58 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 keep his name secret, unless he wishes him to run 
 the risk of being stoned to death. He tlien proceeds 
 to propose the extirpation of mendicity amongst the 
 priestliood, which would render the people more ac- 
 tive and industrious ; promote the extension of com- 
 merce by causing a fall in the price of provisions ; 
 enrich the monkish hospitals, almshouses, and or- 
 phan asylums, by diminishing tlie number of those 
 persons who were most burthensome to them ; and 
 disperse that crowd of vagabonds who, by the crimes 
 of every kind which they are always ready to com- 
 mit, and even by the example of the idle and irre- 
 gular lives whicli they lead, are continually increas- 
 ing the number of those miserable wretches who 
 already do, or will soon, resemble them. The most 
 vigorous and robust of the mendicants, says the 
 Prior, might be sent to work in the marshes 
 (^Marcmmes), and the lame and infirm deposited in 
 houses of seclusion, for the maintenance of which 
 the convents ought to pay what they formerly dis- 
 bursed, if we may believe them, in the way of cha- 
 rities. 
 
 He complains of the insults offered to the Coun- 
 cils of the Church by the numerous bulls and briefs 
 which are constantly manufactured in the Datary's 
 office at Rome, in favour of all who petition, and 
 especially of all who pay for them ; and quotes 
 among other examples to the same effect, the per- 
 mission (contrary to the regulations passed by the 
 Council of Trent) of saying mass before the age of 
 
scirio DE mcci. 59 
 
 twenty-five ; that of contracting marriages within 
 the prohibited degrees, &c. &c. 
 
 With regard to the Convents, it is his wish that 
 their excessive wealth should be employed for the 
 benefit of the State, and the support of the indi- 
 gent ; that tlie 300 crowns per annum (70/. 186'.) 
 • and something more, which the carriage of the 
 Abbot costs, along with the money expended on his 
 domestics and furniture, should be appropriated to the 
 use of the hosi3itals ; and that this reverend worthy 
 should perform his journeys on foot, as the founder 
 of his order formerly did, and intended his succes- 
 sors to do ; that the monks should no longer go out, 
 except in company with some one of their order, 
 under ^^ain of banishment ; and that they should be 
 prohibited from transacting the business of their 
 establishments, and be released from the necessity 
 of holding any intercourse with the laity, either male 
 or female, in buying or selling ; and that a secular 
 person attached to the convents ought to be entrust- 
 ed with the management of these matters, so as to 
 allow the monks to devote their attention to the 
 rules of their order. For the same reason, the 
 monks should be released from the spiritual care of 
 souls, which continually distracts their attention from 
 the duties of their professions. They must also be 
 prohibited from either demanding or accepting, from 
 the Court of Rome, brevets or privileges which drain 
 their purses, and authorize them to violate their by- 
 laws. Superfluity of every kind ought to be banish- 
 
60 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 ed, even from the cliurches and sacristies, the sim- 
 plicity of religion only demanding what is absolutely 
 necessary for the proper performance of its rites. 
 The importunate and scandalous crowds of begging 
 friars ought to be suppressed ; the visits of generals, 
 vicar-generals, provincials and inspectors, which have 
 always been a great source of expense, and have 
 never given rise to the least reform, prohibited ; and 
 no one allowed to make profession in any order, ex- 
 cept at a very advanced age. 
 
 It would also be highly proper to suppress six or 
 eight convents of nuns, (there are more than sixty in 
 Tuscany,) and apply the funds arising from them to 
 the maintenance of hospitals for the poor. Those 
 which remain ought not in future to be governed by 
 priests who do not understand the business, but by 
 a layman, in order that their revenues, which are 
 constantly augmenting by additional portions, may 
 not in reality decrease, as they have too often done 
 on former occasions. It would perhaps be even 
 more useful to dispose of the property of the female 
 convents ; and to form it into a bank, which after 
 paying twenty per cent, to Government, would afford 
 them the two per cent., which they were in the habit 
 of drawing from it. 
 
 The Prior com})lains bitterly of the great number 
 of priests resident in Florence, who neither knew 
 nor could do any thing beyond saying a mass. 
 Want, says he, compels them to employ themselves 
 as intendants and jucceptors in large families, to 
 
SCIPIO DE TilCCI. 61 
 
 buy, to sell, to manage the domestic affairs of their 
 masters ; to conduct their children to the promenade, 
 and even to take charge of a stable at so much per 
 month, as if they were grooms ; all in the hope of ob- 
 taining a l)cnefice from the family by which they 
 are employed. The proper method of remedying 
 such disgraceful practices, would be to refuse bene- 
 fices to all those who had descended to such degrad- 
 ing services. The poorer priests might, if it was 
 deemed proper, be allowed to confess the nuns, after 
 the monks had been deprived of the office, and they 
 would gain by that means what the latter were in 
 the habit of receiving for it. Those ecclesiastics who 
 are constantly in pursuit of honours and dignities, 
 who busy themselves in intrigues to obtain them, 
 and then recruit themselves from the fatigues of their 
 despicable intrigues in places of public amusement, 
 might undertake, gratis^ the administration of hos- 
 pitals, visit them for the purpose of seeing that the 
 duties were properly discharged, &c. This would 
 be a great saving to these useful establishments, and 
 a subject of noble emulation for the young priests, 
 who would be thereby led to consider the practice 
 of virtue, and zeal in the cause of beneficence, as the 
 only way of accomplishing their desires. 
 
 The scandal which arises from those priests, de- 
 nominated coachmen, and postihons, &c. from their 
 saying mass as if they were running post, and who 
 are constantly in a hurry to go from one church to 
 another, in order to do as much business as possible. 
 
62 MEiMOIRS OF 
 
 ought to be put an end to. The sacristies might 
 also be served by laymen ; which would diminish 
 the useless and truly frightful number of clerks of 
 the lower classes, who, like the two hundred clerks 
 of the Metropolitan Church, waste their time till the 
 age of twenty-fiVe without learning any thing, and 
 then get themselves consecrated as a reward for their 
 pretended services. People would not then make it 
 a subject of remark that Florence, out of a popula- 
 tion of 80,000 inhabitants, maintained 3000 priests, 
 whilst out of a population of 400,000 at Vienna, 
 there were only 300. The theatres, coffee-houses, 
 and other places frequented by masks, would also be 
 less encumbered with their presence. 
 
 He is also anxious that the Archbishop of Flo- 
 rence should keep a watchful eye on the tax-office 
 ( chancdlerie des ta.ves) for bulls and benefices, in 
 order to put an end to every thing in the shape of 
 arbitrary impositions, and that, if possible, by means 
 of an invariable rate for each act of grace. 
 
 He demands a reform of the festivals, according 
 to the Bidl of Benedict XIV, in regard to the lega- 
 lity of which the Archbishop of Florence had given 
 rise to some doubts and scruples, by the publication 
 of one of his Pastoral Addresses. By transferring 
 the observance of the festivals to the Sunday fol- 
 lowing the day on which they are held, twenty-five 
 days more labour could be performed in the course 
 of the year ; and the twenty vigils, whicli occa- 
 sions such an enormous expense in salt-fish, would 
 
SCIPIO DE RICCI. 63 
 
 be suppressed ; while the festivals would be much 
 better, and mueh more decently observed. 
 
 The other letter to the Grand-duke, to which we 
 alluded, exhibits in a singular manner the enormi- 
 ties committed in the female convents through Tus- 
 cany. It was addressed to Leopold by a nun of 
 Castiglion-Fiorentino ; and it i)robably led the way, 
 in some degree, to those investigations of the most 
 scandalous abuses, by which Ricci subsequently ren- 
 dered his ecclesiastical career so remarkable. 
 
 The nun, in the very beginning of her letter, says 
 that she could not dispense with writing directly to 
 his Royal Highness. 
 
 " Our convent," she adds, " is at present depen- 
 dent upon, and under the direction of the Minor 
 Observantins,* and is consequently in a state of the 
 greatest irregularity and disorder. Things have 
 come to such a pitch that the superior, and the old 
 nuns, confine themselves entirely to their cells, and 
 occupy themselves in various employments, without 
 paying the least attention to what goes on between 
 the other nuns, and those persons who have the pri- 
 vilege of admission within the walls of the cloister. 
 I had for a long time observed, that the factor of the 
 convent carried on intrigues with some of the young 
 nuns, and that his intercourse with one of them was 
 indecent in the extreme. In order, however, not to 
 form too hasty and unjust a judgment of them, I 
 
 * Des fr^res recollets, ou Mineurs Observantins. 
 
64 ME.\rOIRS OF 
 
 one day concealed myself in a neighbouring apart- 
 ment, and feigning to come out of it, I succeeded 
 in discovering that they were in the haljit of com- 
 mitting the most indecent actions. Since that time, 
 whenever the factor makes his appearance, I always 
 remain, under pretence of age (being nearly fifty,) 
 below witli my work, and walk backwards and for- 
 wards, in order not to allow him an opportunity of 
 being alone with tlie nuns. It was the Abbess who 
 was the means of engaging tliat factor, which she 
 did almost by force, against the opinion of others 
 who thought him too young. Slie is very angry 
 with me, and will certainly not fail to punish me in 
 some way or other. 
 
 " I cannot complain to the Provincial ; for the 
 Monks will not listen to any complaints of the kind. 
 Their answer uniformly is, when any are made, that 
 they proceed from malignity and calumny ; Avhile 
 those who speak to them concerning them, are de- 
 clared to be foolish, scandalous, and turbulent per- 
 sons, who spy the actions of others, who do not 
 behave like true nuns, and who ought to be impri- 
 soned, &c. The nuns are therefore obliged either to 
 allow such enormous irregularities to go on uncheck- 
 ed, or to run the risk of imprisonment for life, under 
 some false pretext. No one cares, in fact, whether or 
 not a nun remains alone with the factor, wliilst her 
 companions are at table, or are attending mass, the 
 communion, or the chair. If any amusement is 
 going forward, the factor is invited to the convent, 
 
scii'io HE nicer. 65 
 
 where he shuts himself up in a room with one of 
 them, and sometimes with two, if they hai)pen to be 
 those who are intimate with him. 
 
 " The monks, in order to ensure themselves against 
 dislike on the part of the nuns, overlook the whole ; 
 for your Royal Highness must know that our con- 
 fessor, who is always selected from that body, is sup- 
 ported by the nuns, who must supply him with 
 every thing which he desires, during the time that 
 he is obhged (for the purpose of doing his duty) to 
 occupy a dwelling in the neighbouihood of the con- 
 vent. Finding themselves well provided with every 
 thing which they want, these monks think of nothing 
 else, and do not give themselves the least trouble 
 about the abuses which prevail in the convents. 
 There are even some of them who make love to the 
 nuns, and it is past all doubt, that they render them 
 much more impudent than the lay members who 
 are guilty of the same practices. Some years ago, a 
 monk was found in the convent during the night, 
 and expelled from it by the baihffs. The affair in 
 consequence got wind, and became universally 
 known. The monk's name was Pancrace.^' 
 
 The nun, however, is of opinion, that the case of 
 the factor was much more blameable, inasmuch as 
 his duties provided him with constant opportunities 
 of sinning. She therefore supplicates the Grand- 
 duke, to order a nobleman, on whom the factor was 
 dependent, to recall him to Florence, without allow- 
 
 VOL. I. F 
 
66 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 ing it to appear that he was at all acquainted with 
 the irregularity of his conduct : " For," says she, " if 
 what I now write to you were known, it would be 
 sufficient to cause me to be poisoned by my com- 
 panions, who are totally given up to vice." She 
 requests the Prince to speak to the Provincial, and 
 to tell him, that " if she is punished under any pre- 
 text whatever, he will take from him the direction of 
 the convent, and transfer it to the Bishop. Would 
 to God that this were already done !'' 
 
 The above letter is dated 22d May, 1770, from 
 the convent of St. Jerome, at Castiglion-Fiorentino, 
 and signed Sister Lucrece Leonide Beroardi. 
 
 Leopold dismissed the factor. 
 
 The scandalous wickedness of some members of 
 the priesthood, under the cloak of religion, and by 
 a perversion of its authority, were known to the 
 Grand-duke as early as 1766. In this year the 
 Senator Rucellai addressed to his Prince a memoir 
 relating to the intrigues of the Tuscan Inquisitors, of 
 the higher orders of the clergy of the Grand-duchy, 
 of the Nunciature at Florence and of the Court of 
 Rome ; all of whom laboured in concert to elude 
 the wise laws of the late Emperor. The occasion 
 was as follows : 
 
 A lady of the name of Maria Catherine Barni, of 
 Santa Croce, declared on her death-bed, that she had 
 been seduced through the medium of confession, and 
 that she had during twelve years maintained a crimi- 
 nal intercourse with a priest, Pierre Pacchiani, Prior 
 
scipro DK lucci. ()7 
 
 of St. Martin, at Castcl-Franco-di-Sotto, who was 
 her confessor. She denounced him to the Bishop of 
 St, Mmiato, on the 4th of May, 1764. 
 
 He had assured her, according to her deposition, 
 that, by means of the supernatural liglit which he 
 had received from Jesus and tlie Holy Virgin, he 
 was perfectly certain that neither of them were 
 guilty of sin in carrying on this correspondence. 
 
 Maria Magdalen Sicini, of Santa Croce, whom she 
 had pointed out as being in the same predicament 
 with herself, deposed on the 4th and 9th of July, 
 that generally about an hour after the confession 
 was over, Pacchiani had a criminal intercourse with 
 her in the vestry ; that she knew well enough that 
 she was committing sin, and that she made confession 
 of it afterwards to Pacchiani himself, who excused 
 her because it had been done with good intentions. 
 
 This lady named another, Victoire Benedetti, 
 who, at her examination on the 28th of the same 
 month, made a declaration to the same effect ; only 
 adding, that she had not had the least scruple in re- 
 gard to her connexion with Pacchiani. 
 
 The trial of this priest for heretical propositions 
 belonged properly to the Inquisition ; but after a 
 good deal of intrigue and manoeuvring, the affair 
 got into the hands of the Archbisliop ; next into 
 those of the Nuncio ; then into those of the Court 
 of Rome ; and Pacchiani, w ho had been dismissed, 
 finally returned to his parish. 
 
 The Government was made perfectly accpiainted 
 
 F 2 
 
68 ]\IF,MOIRS OF 
 
 with the whole transaction ; but in such a w^ay as to 
 be unable to take any notice of it. It was also 
 aware that Pacchiani had been guilty of several dis- 
 graceful tricks ; that he was in the habit of compel- 
 ling the dying to make wills in his favour, by threats 
 of refusing to administer the sacraments ; that he 
 had used his endeavours to prevent Barni from 
 making any confession on her death-bed ; that his 
 Bishop had been obliged to imprison him, in order to 
 remove him from a convent of nuns ; and, finally, 
 that he had delivered from the pulpit a discourse full 
 of sedition. The Grand-duke, about the beginning 
 of 1766, caused him to be dismissed. 
 
 The scandal brought on the doctrines and pro- 
 fessors of religion, by the wretchedness and demo- 
 ralization of the mendicant priests, w^as brought be- 
 fore the Grand-duke, by Rucellai, in 1766. He 
 replies to the inquiries of his sovereign, by detailing 
 various considerations, as to the best means of dimi- 
 nishing the excessive number of these wandering 
 drones, who, without either nomination or benefice, 
 swarmed in Tuscany, and especially at Florence, on 
 account of the college or seminary of the cathedral. 
 This seminary was composed of an hundred and 
 thirty young men, who were employed in the service 
 of the church, and of whom no fewer than sixty-six 
 were annually consecrated, as a reward for their ser- 
 vices. Rucellai was of opinion that a diminution 
 of the number of young men in this seminary would 
 give rise to a great outcry, and would fail in accom- 
 
SCIPIO DE IITCCI. 69 
 
 plishing the end in view. It is the patrimony of the 
 Church which we must diminish, says he, if we wish 
 to diminisli the number of those who live by it; and 
 who would become disciples of Mahomet, if the 
 revenues A\liich they enjoy were approi)riated to 
 Mussulmans. In his opinion, a diminution of the 
 wealth of the clergy, under existing circumstances, 
 was altogether impossible, without a complete ov^er- 
 throw of the political system. To fix it definitively 
 in such a way as to prevent its increase, appeared to 
 him extremely difficult, on account of the tendency 
 of every body of men towards prosperity, and more 
 especially of every sacerdotal body ; it being but 
 too true, that religion and wealth go hand in hand 
 together.* 
 
 The only part of this measure which could have 
 been easily executed, and to which it is astonishing 
 that the Government had never yet turned its atten- 
 tion, was prohibiting the priests from accepting 
 additional foundations for perpetual masses, which 
 they increased in number by every pious fraud which 
 they could devise. These foundations infected Flo- 
 rence, more than any other place, with the refuse 
 of the clergy, who were attracted from the neigh- 
 bouring dioceses by the profits arising from the 
 masses. 
 
 There was also another method of accomplishing 
 the object in view ; namely, to unite all the simple 
 
 * Essendo pur troppo veio, die chi dice religionc, dice ricchezza. 
 
70 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 benefices and ol)ligations, &c. upon which the useless 
 part of the clergy liv^d, and who, in this way, would 
 soon have disappeared ; but the consent of Rome 
 was necessary to the adoption of this measure ; and 
 it would, undoubtedly, have refused to co-operate in 
 the execution of a plan contrary to its policy, preju- 
 dicial to its finances, and destructive of its authority. 
 The Senator concludes by giving it as his opinion, 
 that it would be much better to make use of the 
 means already at the disposal of Government, — 
 which, though they might be slow in accomplishing 
 the end in view, would attain it much more cer- 
 tainly and quietly ; — considering always the increas- 
 ing wealth of the clergy as an evil necessarily con- 
 nected with the present system — as a malady in- 
 separable from the political body. For this purpose 
 it will be necessary, says he, to oppose, both con- 
 stantly and vigorously, that maxim of the Church, 
 so contrary to the Gospel, to the Councils, and to the 
 writings of the Fathers, " that the Church forms a 
 State within the State ; '' to treat the persons and 
 property of ecclesiastics in the same way as the per- 
 sons and property of other citizens ; to return to 
 those Christian times which preceded the thirteenth 
 century, or even to those of Gregory VII, when, 
 not to speak of the eight preceding centuries, during 
 which the property of the Church was considered as 
 public property, belonging to the State, and entirely 
 at the disposal of the civil authority — the clergy and 
 their property were not a whit more dangerous to 
 
SCIPIO DE RICCI. 71 
 
 the State than other wealthy persons and tlieir pro- 
 perty, because they were then undistinguished by 
 any prerogatives, privileges, or immunities. Ru- 
 cellai counselled Leopold to put his authority in 
 force; to exercise a real (defait) jurisdiction over 
 his clergy, by exercising it over their property ; to 
 prevent the augmentation of their territorial wealth, 
 by applying the law of the late Emperor, concern- 
 ing the acquisition of property in mortmain, which 
 had already restored much land to commerce and 
 circulation ; to keep the clergy in check by the dread 
 of extra-judicial and summary sentences of banish- 
 ment and sequestration against their persons and 
 revenues ; and to avoid endless and fatal quarrels 
 with the Court of Rome. 
 
 One of the greatest abuses of the power of the 
 Church in Tuscany, and the most shameful obstacle 
 to the progress of civil justice, was the number of 
 asylums reputed sacred, whose privileges had filled 
 the churches of Tuscany with vagabonds and dis- 
 turbances. The Grand-duke was perfectly aware 
 of his right and authority to abolish this abuse, with- 
 out the consent or intervention of any one ; but he 
 was willing to concede somewhat to the respect due 
 to religion and its ministers, and on this account 
 proposed the ratification of a concordat, which 
 should confer upon him the same privileges which 
 had been bestowed on the other Catholic powers, or 
 failing in this, the adoption of some provisional mea- 
 sure. He was, in fact, determined not to suffer any 
 
72 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 longer, in his dominions, disorders wiiicli Rome her- 
 self, notwithstanding her desire to protect them in 
 those of others, would not tolerate in her own ; and 
 which, being beneficial to criminals only, were a dis- 
 grace both to religion and to the Government * 
 
 Leopold caused the reflections which Rucellai 
 had made on the concordats concluded by Rome, 
 relative to asylums, with Naples in 1741, with Sar- 
 dinia and Piedmont in 1742, and with Austria for 
 the States of Lombardy in 1757, to be submitted 
 to his consideration. The inconveniences of those 
 concordats, and of every concordat whatsoever, by 
 means of which the Court of Rome succeeded in 
 procuring from sovereigns a recognition of the lega- 
 lity of the pretended rights which are the object 
 of the treaty, are clearly pointed out in that docu- 
 ment. Rucellai preferred to these different con- 
 cordats, the scheme of a provisional regulation pre- 
 sented by the Abb6 Neri, which on the one hand 
 contained concessions on the part of his Royal High- 
 ness, and on the other offered the greatest advan- 
 tages on the score of humanity and philosophy ; by 
 both of which Leopold was desirous tliat his ad- 
 
 * A memoir of Rucellai, of date 9th of May, 17^4, shows 
 clearly that Tuscany was completely filled with churches. Flo- 
 rence alone reckoned 320, of which the farthest from one ano- 
 ther were not above 300 paces ; they occupied one half of the 
 ground which had been built upon in the town, and had enjoyed 
 for more than 163 years all the privileges granted by the Bulls 
 of the different Popes. 
 
SCIPIO DE IIICCI. 73 
 
 ministration, and especially his criminal legislation, 
 should be characterised. 
 
 This scheme, which received Leopold's consent, 
 did not admit in future of the inviolabiUty of tlie 
 asylums in any case whatever ; but provided, on the 
 other hand, for the remission of capital and muti- 
 lating punishments, in the case of those who miglit 
 be taken from the asylums ; and also, for the remis- 
 sion of a third part of every other punishment of a 
 lesser degree than those already mentioned. By 
 these means the objection was removed which ex- 
 isted in regard to the exceptions and explanations 
 admitted in the concordats ; exceptions of which 
 the tortuous policy of the Court of Rome, which de- 
 cided upon them, enabled her always to take advan- 
 tage, and of which she never permitted any one to 
 foresee the intention. 
 
 The abolition of capital punishments (for we 
 cannot consider the provisional regulation alluded to 
 as necessarily involving that consequence,) would 
 certainly, says Rucellai, (4th December, 1765,) 
 have displeased those who work upon punishment 
 as the basis of all government, and the main spring 
 of every political system ; but he reckons on the 
 magnanimity and extraordinary talents of his Royal 
 Highness to refute them. The Abbe Neri observes 
 that capital punishments had been dispensed with 
 in several States, without the least inconvenience ; 
 and that it is the certainty of punishment, and not 
 the measure of it, which restrains mankind within 
 
74 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 the line of their duty, and checks the commission of 
 crime. 
 
 The Grand-duke, in consequence, gave orders to 
 Baron St. Odile, his minister at Rome, to commence 
 negotiations on this subject with zeal and prompti- 
 tude, and not to rest satisfied either with the words, 
 or the dilatory and uncertain promises, with which 
 that court always colours its refusals. The reite- 
 rated orders and numerous couriers of Leopold could 
 not, however, get any thing satisfactory from the Car- 
 dinal Secretary of State, to whom he caused it to be 
 announced, that if he would not condescend upon a 
 clear and categorical answer, he was determined to 
 proceed with it. 
 
 The Court of Rome, in spite of the continued re- 
 monstrances of the Grand-duke of Tuscany, evaded 
 for several years any settlement of the question of 
 asylums. Leopold at last determined to act for him- 
 self; and the year 1769 was remarkable for the 
 great reform introduced by him, which at length 
 restored to Justice both the strength and^the liberty 
 wliich she required for the prevention of crime, by 
 the salutary terrors of unavoidable punishment, and 
 re-established order and security in his States, un- 
 der the protection of impartial laws, which allowed 
 neither privilege nor exemption. 
 
 The Grand-duke, who had communicated to the 
 Court of Austria the documents whicli related to the 
 dilicrences existing between him and tlic Pope in 
 
sciPio DE mcci. 75 
 
 regard to asylums, and the plan which lie had formed 
 for repairing the mischief which the inviolability of 
 these refuges had engendered, received by Count 
 Rosenberg, who arrived on the 3d of November 
 from Vienna, the appro1)ation of the Empress ; and 
 consequently, on the 8th of the same month, he in- 
 formed the Court of Rome, that he had caused the 
 malefactors in his dominions to be taken from the 
 asylums and immured in prisons, where they were 
 to enjoy the immunity which they claimed, and to 
 be treated with all Christian charity. 
 
 On the same day his plan was put in execution 
 at Florence, at Sienna, and at Grosseto, and the 
 next day in the rest of the Grand-duchy. 
 
 Leopold, surrounded with the most learaed and 
 enlightened persons in Tuscany, and well skilled 
 himself in ecclesiastical history, was perfectly aware 
 that during the nine first centuries of the Church, 
 the clergy took no part in civil matters beyond the 
 intercession of the bishops and priests with the 
 Supreme Authority, for some diminution of the 
 punishment incurred by criminals. 
 
 The decree of Gratian was the first which claimed 
 for the ecclesiastical body the power of judging 
 persons who were accused of crimes ; but it was not 
 till 1591 that Gregory XIV. originated the abuse 
 and scandal of asylums, by pointing out eight crimes 
 to which that privilege could not be accorded, and 
 by ordaining tliat the ecclesiastical tribunals should 
 
76 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 henceforth finally decide whether those who had 
 taken refuge were or were not within the excepted 
 cases. 
 
 The privilege of asylums was everywhere dimi- 
 nished : in France, even in the time of Leopold, the 
 Church did not interfere in behalf of criminals ; and 
 in Germany, very seldom. In the Low Countries, as 
 well as in Italy, very vigorous measures had been 
 taken to do away with the abuse, which nevertheless 
 has always been more slow in these cases than other 
 Catholic countries, on account of its propinquity to 
 Rome. Venice had, however, given the example, 
 and it had been followed by Lombardy, Turin, Par- 
 ma, Naples, and even by the Pontifical States. 
 
 Tuscany, therefore, was the only country in which 
 the most atrocious crimes, as well as the most tri- 
 fling offences, remained not only unpunished, but 
 even encouraged and protected by the privilege of 
 the churches. Assassins, fratricides, poisoners, in- 
 cendiaries, deserters, robbers, sons of the nobility 
 who wished to withdraw themselves from paternal 
 authority ; monks who had subjected themselves to 
 punishment from their superiors, or soldiers from 
 their officers ; those who had contracted debts, &c. 
 &c. — all took refuge in the same asylum, were all 
 equally well received, and lived in a state of the 
 greatest disorder. 
 
 They frequently disturbed the performance of 
 divine service, and often maltreated the clergy ; 
 committed crime after crime, insulted and even 
 
SCTPIO DK T^ICCI. 77 
 
 wounded tliose wlio attended the churcli, where 
 they had been received without shame, and even 
 supported and openly defended. There they kept 
 a school for the instruction of the young in robbery 
 and swindling, sold contraband goods, and stolen 
 wares. They had prostitutes among them, slept 
 pele-mele under the porticoes, and not unfrequently 
 had cliildren horn to them during the time that 
 they remained in the asylum. They ate, drank, 
 worked at their trades, and kept open shop in the 
 churches. They wore concealed arms, arrested the 
 passengers in order to ransom them, and fired at 
 the agents of the police if they happened to pass by. 
 They sallied out secretly to commit fresh robberies 
 and assassinations, and returned within the sanctu- 
 ary of the church, in order to enjoy, without fear, 
 the protection which the temple and its ministers 
 granted them. 
 
 The convents were, however, the greatest recep- 
 tacles of criminals, whom the monks treated remark- 
 ably well, on account of the benefit which they de- 
 rived from their domestic labours, and because they 
 could use them as instruments for the commission 
 of those frauds which they were desirous of execut- 
 ing, and as apologies for those of which they were 
 themselves guilty, and which they failed not to place 
 to the credit of their guests : they employed them 
 particularly in a contraband trade for the use of 
 the convent, to which they were much addicted, 
 especially in the country. 
 
78 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 It maybe sufficient for illustration to produce a sin- 
 gle example of all these abuses, to the existence of 
 which many pco])le can still bear witness, in Tuscany, 
 and from ^^hich Leopold entirely delivered it. A 
 short time previously to the reform of the asylum, the 
 monks of the convent of St. Spirito, at Florence, 
 carried their impudence so far, as to allot a chamber 
 among the novices to a I'obber who had attempted to 
 kill his own brother. 
 
 Such was the deplorable state of that beautiful 
 part of Italy. There were, on the suppression of the 
 asylums, eighty refugees, of whom a third had been 
 guilty of wilful murder, and the rest, either for cut- 
 ting or maiming the inhabitants, or of committing 
 extensive robberies, — Several of them had made their 
 escape from the galleys. 
 
 It was determined, in consequence, not to allow 
 them any longer the privilege of asylum, and a law 
 was passed which enjoined the jmblic authority to 
 sei2.e, for the future, every refugee, in whatever 
 asylum he might be found, (civil debtors, not frau- 
 dulent bankrupts, only excepted) and to carry him be- 
 fore the ordinary tribunals, for the purpose of being 
 sentenced, if sufficient cause was shown, to ten 
 years' confinement in irons, in case of his crime de- 
 serving capital punishment ; to five, if it deserved 
 ten ; and so on, always mitigating the punishment, 
 out of regard to the sacred sj)ot on wliich he had 
 been apprehended. This was the only method of 
 managing the affair, so as to jn-eservc the rights of 
 
SCU'lO DE RICCI. 79 
 
 the sovereign entire, to sliow a proper degree of re- 
 spect for the privileges of the cluuxhes, and to put 
 an end to irregularities and crimes, which the ho- 
 nour, the dignity, and even the conscience of the 
 prince, forbade him to tolerate any longer. 
 
 The last document wliich we shall select, as il- 
 lustrative of the ecclesiastical condition of Tuscany, 
 before the administration of Ricci, contains some 
 curious details of abuses, both as regards the num- 
 ber and discipline of the religious orders. It is a 
 letter of Rucellai, dated 11th December, 1770, 
 written in reply to some questions which the Grand- 
 duke had addressed to him. 
 
 Leopold had requested him to make out plans, 
 1, for diminishing as quickly as possible the number 
 of convents in Tuscany, and of the individuals in- 
 habiting them, and also for preventing foreigners 
 from becoming inmates of them ; 2, for the pre- 
 vention of reUgious vows, at an earlier age than 
 twenty-four years ; 3, for prohibiting mendicants 
 of religious orders from receiving novices before the 
 age of sixteen or eighteen ; 4, for suppressing all 
 convents of mendicant orders containing fewer than 
 twelve persons ; 5, for enabling the secular priests 
 only, and especially the curates, to preach in the 
 country, and for preventing the monks from ex- 
 ercising that function ; 6, for excluding the monks 
 from the direction of female convents, which oup'ht 
 to be regulated in spiritual matters by the ordinaries 
 only. 
 
80 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Rucellai says in reply, that he will endeavour 
 to comply with the wishes of his Royal Highness 
 on these points in such a way as to produce the 
 least possible embarrassment to Government, and to 
 give no more offence to the Court of Rome, nor 
 any greater shock to the prejudices of the people, 
 than he can well help. 
 
 The support and duration of religious orders 
 depends, says he, partly on the success of the monks 
 in procuring recruits, and partly on the inter- 
 est which families have in supplying them with 
 them. This could not possibly be the case if per- 
 petual vows were not taken at so early an age as 
 sixteen ; that is to say, at an age which has no 
 safeguard either against seduction or violence. The 
 monks accordingly showed themselves particularly 
 anxious, at the Council of Trent, to retain this pri- 
 'vilege, in order, as they said, to prevent the de- 
 struction of the monastic establishments. 
 
 This avowal, on their part, points out the line of 
 conduct which ought to be adopted by Government : 
 for as the vows which the individual takes upon 
 him, deprive him of various rights which he for- 
 merly possessed, and free him, nmch to the preju- 
 dice of his fellow-citizens and of his country, ac- 
 cording to the tenour of the Canon law, from the 
 performance of various duties which he was bound 
 to discharge to society, the temporal or civil 
 power ought to regulate every thing relating to 
 solemn vows and professions, in the same manner 
 
scirio DE RICCI. 81 
 
 that it regulates all other civil acts, and to limit 
 and modify them agreeably to what its existence 
 and its interests appear to require: 
 
 It is absolutely necessary that the sovereign 
 should have it in his power to prohibit the putting 
 on of the religious habit without his express per- 
 mission. Rome, however, has always opposed such 
 an exercise of authority, to the utmost of her power. 
 She saw clearly that the establishment of such a 
 regulation would, in the end, destroy, or at least 
 greatly weaken, her religious communities, " which 
 she justly regards as so many collective bodies of 
 her subjects ; that is to say, as armed legions, which 
 she maintains abroad at the expense of the countries 
 in which they so blindly execute her orders. These 
 orders she veils with the mantle of religion, and 
 has the art of getting them as well executed by 
 those to whom she intrusts them, as if they had a 
 personal interest in doing what not unfrequently 
 exposes them to all the vengeance of their Govern- 
 ments." 
 
 Rome will be just as clamorous against the adop- 
 tion of any measures for regulating the time and 
 mode of taking vows, as if these measures were 
 offensive to the Almighty himself. 
 
 Rucellai would not fix any age, as the lawful 
 one, for the solemn profession of vows, unless Rome 
 consented to it ; this he does not believe that she 
 would do, even though she were compelled, for the 
 
 VOL. I. G 
 
82 MEMOmS OF 
 
 purpose of giving a refusal, to recognise the su- 
 perior authority of the Council of Trent, to which 
 she would probably have recourse under such cir- 
 cumstances, although she has violated its decisions 
 in so many others. The ulterior obligation of vows, 
 taken canonically at the age of sixteen, would 
 therefore still remain ; while the sovereign would 
 only have succeeded in obliging his subjects to de- 
 ceive him. 
 
 He proposes to prohibit the adoption of the eccle- 
 siastical and religious habit, under any pretext what- 
 ever, before the age of twenty-one. 
 
 Children who submit to the tonsui'e at the age of 
 seven, and young people who enter the convent 
 at fifteen, although not bound by any pai-ticular 
 obligation, do not afterwards leave off their reli- 
 gious profession. " That profession, in the pre- 
 sent state of things, is one which is expressly made 
 for those whom circumstances had designed for a life 
 of industry ; namely, for the great mass of mankind. 
 From the age of seven or ten, till twenty-four, young 
 people, destined for profession, are only taught 
 the service of the church, a little Latin, and some 
 theological definitions — a kind of knowledge which 
 cannot be exchanged to much pecuniary advantage, 
 except by the clergy." They must embrace this 
 profession, therefore, either voluntarily, or by force ; 
 and even when they are totally incapable, and their 
 conduct has been such as to render them utterly 
 
SCIPIO DE RICCI. 83 
 
 iinwortliy of being admitted into it, the bishops, 
 tliroiigli compassion for them and tlieir family, make 
 no scruple in letting them pass. 
 
 One might almost say that they had become 
 monks or priests, from the very moment they put 
 on the livery of the Church, which, by depriving 
 them of all other means of making a livelihood, 
 necessarily condemns them to the exercise of the 
 ecclesiastical profession ; vv^e may even add, that 
 they have bound themselves to become priests when 
 they should be of age to embrace the profession, in 
 the same way as an apprenticed mason, by ex- 
 ercising his trade in his early years, binds himself 
 to it for the rest of his life. Rucellai shows that 
 his scheme, so fit for rooting out, at a single blow, 
 the whole of the inferior clergy — that is to say, the 
 greatest part of the ecclesiastical hierarchy — would 
 give great oftence to the Court of Rome, terrify 
 the people, and be productive of embarrassment to 
 the Government. 
 
 In regard to diminishing the number of nuns, 
 he is of opinion, that nothing can be done in that 
 way without previously facilitating marriages (that 
 is, before having rendered them useful to those who 
 contract them,) or having procured for women some 
 middle resource between marriage and religious 
 profession — a resource which did not exist in Tus- 
 cany. The Government will therefore be obliged 
 to rest contented (the state of the revenues of the 
 
 G 2 
 
84 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 convents being well known) witli prohibiting the 
 superiors from receiving more novices than they 
 have the means of supporting, the number of 
 which ought to be fixed ; as well as from receiv- 
 ing any portion along with them at the time of 
 taking the vows. 
 
 If the sole question relate to diminishing the 
 number of monks, great care ought to be taken 
 in endeavouring to accomplish that object, lest 
 the means employed should have any tendency to 
 fill the Tuscan convents with foreign monks ; to in- 
 cite the Tuscans to adopt the profession elsewhere ; 
 or, finally, to prevent young students from other 
 countries from repairing for their education to the 
 Tuscan monasteries. 
 
 The step which ought to be adopted, is to cause 
 an exact account to be given of the temporal wealth 
 of the monks ; and when that has been procured, to 
 fix the precise number of individuals whom they are 
 able to maintain, and, consequently, to receive in 
 each establishment. This ought to be accompanied 
 by an order to observe strictly the injunctions of 
 the Bulls, the rules, and institutes of the different 
 orders ; by which means those small convents in the 
 country, which are prohibited by the Bulls, and 
 which, besides being totally useless to religion, are a 
 source of scandal to the people, and of impoverish- 
 ment to a very valuable class of tlic community, the 
 villagers, will he at length abolished. The funds 
 
SCIPIO 1)E RICCI. 85 
 
 arising from this source ought, whatever may be 
 the clamours of the Court of Rome, to be appro- 
 priated to beneficent institutions, as is the case at 
 Venice and other places. 
 
 There are various religious orders who live solely 
 by begging alms ; such as the Capuchins, the Obser- 
 vantines, the Barefooted Carmelites, the Augus- 
 tines, and others, who, though originally mendi- 
 cants, scarcely retain any trace of their profession, 
 beyond the mere name and the pontifical privilege 
 attached to it. St. Francis intended his disciples 
 to live by the labour of their hands, and only 
 to implore the aids of charity when they found 
 themselves unable to earn what was necessary for 
 their subsistence. The Pope and the theologians 
 declared, that the only labour which had been or- 
 dained for them was entirely spiritual ; while the 
 Council of Trent, departing from the strictness of 
 their rule, gave them power, like the rest of the 
 mendicant orders, (the Capuchins and Observantines 
 only excepted,) to acquire and possess property. 
 The income of these monks must be exactly ascer- 
 tained, by calculating the product arising from their 
 masses, the charities which they receive, and the 
 profit accruing from the direction of the convents. 
 When that has been done, their numbers must be 
 restrained, and every species of begging, especially 
 in the country, forbidden, as well as all the pious 
 frauds which they employ in the churches for making 
 
86 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 money ; such as enrolment in tlie third order, devo- 
 tion to the name of Jesus, to St. Anthony, &c. 
 
 Wherever the existing revenues are found in- 
 sufficient to maintain such a number of these para- 
 sitical plants as it may have been deemed neces- 
 sary to support, notwithstanding the progress of 
 civilization, Rucellai advises the Government to 
 make up the deficiency by means of pensions. 
 Society will thus purchase, says he, by the 
 sacrifice of a small sum of money, a deliverance 
 from the dangerous influence, both in a moral and 
 political point of view, to which the scandalous beg- 
 gary of the clergy subjects it. Besides, adds he, 
 by giving them a pension, the Government will ac- 
 quire an autliority over them, which it never could 
 liave obtained in any other way, and will have it in 
 its power to diminish their numbers as it may deem 
 proper, by diminishing their salaries. 
 
scirio i)E iiicci. 87 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Examination of Ricci before Pius VI. — Ricci in his Diocese. — 
 Disorders of the Dominicans. — Disputes of Ricci with the 
 Dominicans on the subject of their Convents. — His Contests 
 with the Ex-Jesuits. — The Superstition of the Sacred 
 Heart. — Different attempts at reform. 
 
 After the digression we have just made, the 
 length of which will be excused for the interesting 
 information it contains, we return to the narrative 
 of Ricci's life. He underwent the customary ex- 
 amination of a bishop before Pius VI. The cere- 
 mony appears to have been very disagreeable to him, 
 for he is afterwards found repeatedly complaining of 
 its humiliating nature, and of the conduct of the 
 Court of Rome in insisting on this and similar things, 
 to bring the bishops more completely under its 
 authority. In this examination the candidates for 
 episcopal orders are obliged to be on their knees, in 
 the midst of a numerous assembly, presided over by 
 the Pope, while the examining prelates, chosen from 
 
88 MEM OIKS or 
 
 the regular priests, question them. Ricci, however, 
 got through this task with credit. "Whoever, he says, 
 knows the formalities, knows that the examiners 
 communicate the questions beforehand, and even tell 
 them from what author they wish the answers to be 
 taken ; because they have no less fear of being them- 
 selves embarrassed, and making a sorry appearance 
 before the assembly, than the examined can have ; 
 who, if he do blunder a little, is always sure of 
 being excused. The ceremony of his consecration, 
 as Bishop of Pistoia and Prato,* took place on the 
 
 * Prato had formerly been divided from Pistoia. Some 
 anecdotes connected with the history of these Sees occur in the 
 original Memoirs of Ricci, which Avould not interest the English 
 reader. — The following may perhaps be excepted : — 
 
 " At the commencement of the seventeenth century," says 
 Ricci, " during the discussions on the dismemberment of the 
 diocese of Pistoia, the city of Prato was scarcely recovered from 
 the frightful pillage which it had suffered, when it was taken 
 by the soldiers led by the Cardinal John de' Medici, afterwards 
 Leo X., against his country, the Republic of Florence. This 
 Cardinal, who was as bad a citizen as he was a cruel instrument 
 of the ambitious projects of Julius II. whom he served as 
 legate, placed himself, it is said, at a short distance from the 
 city, whilst the soldiers assaulted it. He there ran great 
 risk of being killed by a shot from a culverin, which struck 
 the window, from which, like another Nero, he enjoyed the 
 frightful spectacle. Even in my time they exhibited to the 
 curious, in the convent of St. Anne, near Prato, both the window 
 and a part of the wall broken by the shot. They show also, in 
 the middle of the court of the ancient house of the Provosts, 
 which I afterwards used as my episcopal residence, a large well. 
 
SCIPIO DE RTCCI. 89 
 
 21th of June, 1780. In his discourse, he is de- 
 picted by the Abbe X. as pious, mild, simple, pure in 
 manners, beneficent, void of ambition, ardent for the 
 good of his diocese, and of all the Catholic Church ; 
 and a friend to reform, as far as his views extended. 
 He had not yet gone to Pistoia, when he learned 
 that a canon of that city had been imprisoned for 
 robbery; and before leaving Florence, he obtained 
 an order from the Grand-duke, that the culprit should 
 be shut up in his convent to do penance there. By 
 
 now filled up, which is recorded to have swallowed up about six 
 hundred innocent victims to the fury of the soldiers, as well 
 women as children and old men, which the sanctity of the 
 church, in which they had taken refuge, could not save from the 
 massacre. Their bodies, dragged away from the precincts of the 
 temple, had been heaped together, like the flesh of the shambles, 
 and were thrown into this horrible grave, till it became neces- 
 sary hastily to clear the holy place of so many carcases, when 
 the victor Cardinal was about to make his triumphant entry. 
 The prince of the church, by a rare act of generosity, granted 
 his pardon to a small number of unhappy wretches who re- 
 mained alive after this fearful catastrophe." — Paulus Jovius 
 contradicts this narrative, as Ricci himself admits. That his- 
 torian contends, in his Life of Leo X., that John and Julius de' 
 Medici, and their cousin Julius, afterwards Clement VII. used 
 all their efforts to restrain the barbarity of the Spanish soldiers. 
 But Ricci maintains that Jovius, protected and favoured by the 
 Medici, was unlikely to give an impartial relation of such an 
 event ; and he maintains, that the privileges granted to the inha- 
 bitants of Prato, after this period, were only a sad compensation 
 for such a terrible massacre, of which the remembrance was 
 even fresh at the time he was writing, in 1803. 
 
90 MEMOinS OF 
 
 this means he avoided a proceeding which would 
 have been scandalous to the clergy. 
 
 His first care, on arriving at Pistoia, was to em- 
 ploy all the means in his power to reform the Domi- 
 nican nuns of the convent of St. Lucia. Before 
 his time, the Bishop Alamanni had been obliged, in 
 1764, to take the spiritual management of the 
 convents of St. Catherine and St. Lucia at Pistoia 
 into his own hands, on account of the disorders 
 reigning in them. He had received the express 
 order of his Government to do so, and had obtained 
 the consent of the College of Cardinals, the See of 
 Rome being at that time vacant. He now deem- 
 ed it necessary, at the same time, to remove from 
 the convent the Dominican monks, who had been 
 their former directors. The nuns of St. Lucia 
 were so much affected by this unexpected attack, 
 that he never could succeed in reducing them to 
 oliedience. After his death, the Bishop Ippoliti, for 
 four entire years, laboured in vain for the accom- 
 plishment of the same object. These unhappy vic- 
 tims of monachal seduction obstinately refused to 
 listen to the authority of their pastor ; and some of 
 them preferred giving up the sacraments altogether, 
 to receiving them from the hands of the secular or 
 regular clergy, whom the Bishop had marked out to 
 administer to them the consolations of religion, after 
 the Prince had prohibited the Dominicans from ap- 
 proaching them. Tliere was among them a novice 
 
SCIPIO DE RICCI. 91 
 
 who never would make her vows before the Bishop, 
 because she would not promise obedience to any one 
 but the General of the Dominicans. 
 
 When Ricci complained at Rome of these dis- 
 orders to the Pope, and avowed his suspicions that 
 the monks alone were the cause of so much ob- 
 stinacy on the part of the nuns : " Can you doubt 
 it ?" said Pius VI. ; and immediately afterwards he 
 uttered a violent sally against the General of the 
 Dominicans, whom he painted as a troublesome and 
 obstinate man. He charged Ricci to assure the 
 nuns, that it was his formal intention to leave them, 
 for the future, subject to their Bishop, and not to the 
 friars ; and that they should have no scruple, on ac- 
 count of the obedience which they had promised to 
 their General. 
 
 Fortified by this pontifical authority, the new 
 Bishop gradually brought the Dominican nuns un- 
 der his jurisdiction ; made them accept a new con- 
 fessor, and even prevailed upon the novice to make 
 her vows. He confesses, however, that he could 
 never flatter himself with having effected more 
 than a half conversion, and that there was need of 
 constant vigilance to guard against the underhand 
 intriguing of the Dominican friars. 
 
 In Prato, also, he abridged their power, and made 
 them submit to his episcopal jurisdiction ; but the 
 affront which wounded them to the quick, was an 
 order which he who knew or suspected their con- 
 
92 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 duct, issued, that no friar should go into a convent 
 of nuns, unless solely in case of necessity, and al- 
 ways with surplice and stole, to administer the sa- 
 craments. They used every effort to obtain the 
 repeal of this order. 
 
 The Jesuits, though aljolished as a body, still 
 kept up their intrigues. With this zealous and per- 
 tinacious sect Ricci had a violent dispute, on a 
 superstitious observance, called, the Devotion to the 
 Sacred Heart of Jesus. That order had always been 
 very zealous in the cause of candidates. Pope 
 Clement XIII. had supported them ; but Clement 
 XIV. utterly destroyed their plans. The Jesuits 
 at Pistoia had sounded Ricci on his inclinations 
 with respect to this, their favourite devotion, while 
 he was at Rome. A man at Prato had wished to 
 establish an annual festival, to found a perpetual 
 mass, and to obtain indulgences in honour of the 
 Sacred Heart. It may be easily conjectured how 
 Ricci treated this proposal ; but Cardinal Rezzonico 
 made no difficulty of granting the request, and sent 
 a brief to that effect to Prato, whence it was re- 
 turned by the Pro-vicar to Ricci, who kept it in his 
 hands, withovit giving it any currency. 
 
 This first abortive attempt was followed by a 
 second, after he had taken possession of his bishopric. 
 On the 3d of April, 1781, he was at Prato, on 
 occasion of the solemn benediction of several bells 
 destined for the catliedral of that city. AVhen he 
 
SCIPIO DE IIICCI. 93 
 
 came into the church, and at the very moment of 
 commencing the office prescribed for this religious 
 ceremony, he was warned that it vv^as intended to 
 deceive him ; but there was no time to inform him 
 in what the snare laid against him consisted. Accus- 
 tomed to the intrigues of priests, he promised that 
 he would not let himself be surprised ; and suspect- 
 ing that some fraud lurked vmder the request that 
 he should baptize the largest of the bells in honour 
 of Jesus Christ, he refused to do it. The pretext 
 he alleged was, that as all bells were dedicated to 
 God, there was no need of a particular ceremony for 
 that, and he gave the bell the name of St. Stephen, 
 the patron of the town. When the office was con- 
 cluded, he went to admire the workmanship of the 
 new bells, in order to have time to examine them ; 
 and he discovered under the garland of flowers with 
 which the principal bell was rather covered, than 
 ornamented, the inscription, hi honor em SS. Cordis 
 Jesii. At the sight of this he could not contain his 
 indignation : he caused the inscription to be effaced, 
 and complained of it to the Grand-duke. For this 
 recourse to the civil power Ricci was bitterly blamed 
 by his enemies, and those of social order. 
 
 This devotion to the Sacred Heart caused Ricci 
 still farther trouble. Salvi, a man deeply imbued 
 with the spirit of the suppressed order, exposed 
 throughout Prato, his native place, where he was 
 Prior of the church of Notre Dame, pictures 
 
94 MEINIOIRS OF 
 
 of the Sacred Heart, which he surrounded with 
 rich ornaments, calculated to keep up the super- 
 stition of the people. He added indulgences, ob- 
 tained ft'om Pius VI. in favour of this new devotion, 
 although it had not been previously verified and 
 recognised for authentic by the Bishop, as the Coun- 
 cil of Trent requires. Finally, he openly supported 
 a fraternity illegally formed and introduced into 
 Tuscany, in honour of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. 
 
 '* Every body knows," says Ricci, " and fatal ex- 
 perience has too fully proved it during the troubles 
 which still agitate Europe, how many machinations 
 the Jesuits set on foot, under the protection of Pius 
 VI. to re-establish their society. They imagined that 
 this doctrine of the Sacred Heart would be the most 
 proper centre and point of union for all who should 
 labour to that end ; with this view, they neglected 
 no means, no artifice, to promote and establish this 
 worship. The Popes before Clement XIII. had 
 generally opposed it on rehgious grounds. After 
 the suppression of the Jesuits, this superstition made 
 little progress, on account of the vigilance and firm- 
 ness of Clement XIV. ; and in all probability, had 
 that pontiff lived * longer, it would have been bu- 
 
 * The historian of the Life of Ricci here inserts a iiote, which 
 has for its object to prove the authenticity of the letters of Gan- 
 ganelli. The Abbe de Belgarde thus expresses himself on this 
 curious point of literary history, in two letters to Ricci, written 
 in 1776:— 
 
scirio DE Rice I. 95 
 
 ricd with the suppressed order. "But God," says 
 Ricci, " wished to try his church, in order to pacify 
 it, aod has permitted that this devotion of the Sa- 
 cred Heart should revive in all its force under Pius 
 VI. who scattered indulgences in handfuls on the 
 Co/'Jico/e^'."* 
 
 Salvi was their apostle at Prato. He was cited 
 to Florence by the Senator Bartolini, to answer for 
 his conduct, but the cunning Jesuit seduced this 
 magistrate from his duty, and Leopold, who was as 
 good a Jansenist as Ricci himself, had to reprimand 
 him, and order him to apologize to Ricci for his 
 conduct. The Bishop treated him on this occasion 
 
 " Have you seen the letters of GanganelH ? there are a good 
 number of them addressed to the late Messieurs Lauri and Ce- 
 rati. You and M. Martini ought to have read them. You are, 
 of course, aware that there are some persons who throw doubt 
 upon the authenticity of these letters ; some through passion and 
 interest, as the ex- Jesuits and infidels ; and others through a 
 fastidious spirit of criticism. For myself, I freely avow that I 
 have not the slightest doubt on the subject. Independent of the 
 evidence derived from the work itself, I have seen in the original, 
 the letters of many persons of authority in Rome, of which 
 transcripts had been furnished, which, in other points too, 
 prove the truth of this publication." In another letter, the 
 Abbe de Belgarde adds, " I have the satisfaction of knowing, 
 that persons Avho have the best means of judging, particularly 
 the Cardinal de Berni, regard the letters of Clement XIV. as 
 authentic." 
 
 * The worshippers of the Sacred Heart. 
 
96 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 with the greatest attention, but could not wdn the 
 o]jstinate heart of the Jesuit. 
 
 He pubHcly,in a pastoral letter dated June 3, 1781, 
 exposed this superstition, and thereby called down 
 on himself the reproaches of Serrati, one of Leopold's 
 secretaries. Leopold was occupied in the most in- 
 teresting reforms, yet such was the nature of the 
 silly controversies in which he and his ministers were 
 engaged. 
 
 The city of Prato was entirely under the influence 
 of the monks. The Jesuits and the Dominicans 
 exercised there the most absolute power, the former 
 directing the education of the youth of all the prin- 
 cipal families of the neighbourhood, and the latter 
 managing the female convents. The Bishop was 
 considered as little more than the chief personage 
 of the place ; his spiritual authority was nothing. 
 In this situation of things, Ricci, jealous of his 
 power, and especially so when religion and mora- 
 lity demanded its rigorous exertion, could hardly 
 remain long without a dispute with the monks. 
 Their first difference originated in the nomination 
 of a Dominican confessor and preacher, in which 
 dispute Ricci saw himself overcome by the want of 
 discretion in the Vicar-general, who took part with 
 his opponents. 
 
 For a century and half previous to this, the 
 total corruption of the Dominican order had been 
 a matter of scandal throughout Tuscany. The 
 
s.ciPio i>E Riccr. 97 
 
 spiritual direction which the monks had of the 
 convents, instead of being, as it originally was, 
 favourable to religion, had degenerated into a source 
 of the basest profligacy. A petition, dated 164,2, still 
 exists, in which the Gonfalonier of that period, and 
 other representatives of the people of Pistoia, address 
 the reigning Duke, praying for a reformation in the 
 convents of the Dominicans of St. Lucia and St. 
 Catherine. Ferdinand, however, did nothing, and 
 the honour, says Ricci, was reserved for Leopold. 
 
 Two nuns of the convent of St. Catherine of 
 Pistoia, who had exposed to him. the execrable prin- 
 ciples and doctrines of the Dominican monks, their 
 directors, gave rise to his wise reforms. They 
 proved how much the profit which the monks, and 
 above all, the Provincial and the Confessor, drew 
 from their convent, as well as from others, hurt the 
 temporal interests of these religious houses, and 
 were gradually ruining them. They gave equally 
 strong proofs of the spiritual ruin produced by the 
 familiarity of the monks with the nuns, and the 
 easy communication which they had with them. 
 They ate and drank with their favourite sisters, re- 
 mained alone with them in their cells whenever they 
 chose, and whenever they could find a pretext, slept 
 during the night in the cloister. Long habit had 
 in fact so accustomed them to the greatest licence, 
 that scarcely any respect for public decency remain- 
 ed. We shall here insert, from the justificatory 
 
 VOL. I. H 
 
98 MEAIOIKS OF 
 
 notes appended to the Memoirs, the declaration 
 of the nuns of St. Catherine of Pistoia, which was 
 presented to the Grand-duke Leopold in the year 
 1 775. It is as follows : 
 
 " Instead of allowing us to remain in our simpli- 
 city, and protecting our innocence, they teach us, 
 both by word and action, all kinds of indecencies. 
 They frequently come to the vestry, of which 
 they have almost all the keys ; and as there is a 
 grate there, they commit a thousand indecorous 
 acts. 
 
 " If, moreover, they get an opportunity of com- 
 ing into the convent under any feigned pretext, they 
 go and stay alone in the chambers of those who are 
 devoted to them. They are all, more or less, even 
 the provincials, of the same stamp ; and they are 
 not ashamed to take advantage of the circumstance 
 of the visitation for those purposes. They utter the 
 worst expressions, saying that we should look upon 
 it as a great happiness that we have the power of 
 satisfying our appetites without being exposed to 
 the annoyance of children. They say that when 
 this life is ended, all is ended ; and they add that 
 even St. Paul, who wrought with his own hands, 
 should teach us; and that we should not hesitate 
 to take our pleasures. 
 
 " They allow every kind of indecency to go on 
 in the parlour. Though often warned by us, they 
 do not break off the dangerous intimacies that are 
 
SCIPIO DE IlICCI. 99 
 
 formed ; and hence it has often occurred that men 
 who have contrived to get the keys, liave come into 
 the convent during the night, which they have spent 
 in the most dissipated manner. They also suffer the 
 nuns to neglect the sacraments : they never think of 
 introducing the practice of mental prayer, and they 
 preach nothing but the pleasures of this life. The 
 sisters who live according to their maxims are extolled 
 by them and indulged in every extravagance ; and 
 the others must either go with the stream, heedless of 
 conscience, or live in a state of perpetual warfare, as 
 is actually the case with us now. 
 
 " This is the real truth. We the undersigned 
 attest it, without passion, and on our conscience. 
 
 " I Sister Anna Teresa Merlini, Madre di 
 
 Consigiio. 
 I Sister Rosa Peraccini, Madre di Consigiio. 
 I Sister Flavia Peraccini, Madre di ConsigHo. 
 I Sister Gaetana Poggiali. 
 I Sister Candida, Gioconda Bottl 
 I Sister Maria, Clotilda Bambi." 
 This intercourse of the monks and nuns was 
 in fact, according to Ricci, arrived at such a point 
 of infamous licentiousness, that topics of the most 
 disgusting nature formed the usual subject of their 
 conversation ; while the greater part of the sisters 
 deprived themselves of their money and every thing 
 else to satisfy the rapacity of their lovers, performed 
 for them the most servile offices, and even some- 
 
 H 2 
 
100 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 times went by the name of their wives. A person 
 who had been, when a youth, in the service of the 
 Dominicans, told me, says the Bishop, not only what 
 has just been mentioned, but many other things of 
 a still worse kind, and that his principal employment 
 had been that of a confidential messenger in their 
 love-intrigues. Leopold, already well informed of 
 this condition of the conv^ents, to obtain still farther 
 information had the fabriciens of the establishment 
 examined, and found every thing he had before heard 
 confirmed. He next had all the nuns themselves 
 examined by the Lieutenant of Police ; and seeing 
 the necessity of some prompt and vigorous measure, 
 appointed the Bishop Alamanni to take without delay 
 the spiritual superintendence of all tlie Dominican 
 convents of Pistoia, and prohibited the Dominican 
 monks, on pain of imprisonment, from approaching 
 them. The necessity of this measure is apparent from 
 the notes already quoted. While Ricci was still 
 Vicar of the Archbishop of Florence, it was reported 
 to him that in a convent of that diocese where the 
 nuns all slept in a common dormitory, the two last 
 beds were for the father confessor and his lay brother, 
 that they might have them in case of being called to 
 assist any sick sister during the night. Ricci imme- 
 diately summoned one of the principal monks of the 
 order of the Conventual Minors, Father Tomaso Bar- 
 gellini, theologian, examiner &c. of the convent of 
 Ognissanti, and menaced him with the wrath of the 
 
scirio DE RICCI. 101 
 
 Grand-duke, then greatly incensed on account of the 
 affair of the Dominicans of Pistoia, of which the 
 memory was still fresh, if he lost a moment in 
 amending the disorder that was complained of. 
 The two beds immediately disappeared. 
 
 Alamanni resided at Florence, but, though at a 
 distance from his diocese and eighty years old, he 
 rendered an exact account of every thing which 
 occurred, and gave minute directions on every oc- 
 casion of difficulty or doubt. Neither his gentle- 
 ness, however, nor his kind feelings for the nuns, 
 could overcome their pride and obstinacy. They 
 constantly refused to regard him as their superior » 
 or to show the least confidence in the confessors 
 he appointed. They asserted that, by acting in a 
 contrary manner, they should have incurred the 
 excommunication of Pius V. ; and the dread of this 
 was so strong with many, that one who was dan- 
 gerously ill at St. Lucia, never requested the sacra- 
 ments. With many, we may believe, this was the 
 effect of ignorance, but there is every reason to 
 think that in others it arose from vicious passions and 
 the desire of their safe indulgence. The monks, the 
 nuns, and even the Cardinal-protector of the order, 
 omitted no opportunity of assuring them, either 
 by letters or secret emissaries, that if they continued 
 firm, the tempest which menaced them would in a 
 little time be gradually dispersed. By this means 
 the nuns were confirmed in their obstinate resistance. 
 
102 MEMOIRS, OF 
 
 which they persevered in, though deprived, in con- 
 sequence, of all the succours of religion, as Leopold 
 had prohibited their receiving them from any but a 
 priest of his appointing. 
 
 A short time after the death of Clement XIV. 
 Alamanni addressed the Court of Rome to obtain 
 the power and means for reducing the Dominicans 
 of Pistoia under his authority. His petition bears 
 date December 19, 1774. The Cardinals, assembled 
 in conclave, granted his request, and confided to him 
 on the 10th of January following, in the name of the 
 Holy See, a commission for governing the convents 
 of St. Lucia and St. Catherine, and requested him 
 to communicate such farther information as might be 
 useful to the future Pope. He hastened to satisfy 
 their demand, and added to the details already given 
 a lively picture of the abuse of authority of which 
 both the priors and confessors in the convent of 
 Pistoia were guilty. 
 
 The nuns, says Alamanni, nearly all declare 
 the same thing respecting the dissoluteness and 
 libertinism of their directors, of their materialism in 
 doctrine, and the brutality of their sentiments ; and 
 he says, in conclusion, that he had in a great degree 
 a personal experience of the truth of these assertions, 
 as he had been charged with their spiritual adminis- 
 tration. 
 
 In the mean time the disorders increased at St. 
 Lucia. The nuns uniformly united in opposing 
 
scirio DE mcci. 103 
 
 the Bishop, in refusing the sacraments, and remain- 
 ing without a superior, since, after the death of the 
 one who had governed them according to the direc- 
 tion of the Dominicans, they were determined to 
 elect no other without their co-operation. They be- 
 heved, or pretended to believe, that the provisionary 
 power given by the Cardinals to their Bishop to 
 replace the monks, was either supposititious or in- 
 sufficient. At St. Catherine the demon of discord 
 reigned without restraint. Those who had been 
 reclaimed were regarded as guilty of apostasy, as 
 schismatics and excommunicated. The party op- 
 posed to them was, although less numerous, the most 
 turbulent and determined. The threats of poison- 
 ing or strangling the complainants were nearly every 
 day renewed, and no authority availed to subdue 
 the pride of these miserably depraved nuns. We 
 give as a proof of the actual condition of these 
 persons the following extracts from the report which 
 the three churchwardens signed and presented to 
 Leopold, and from a letter of one of the nuns to 
 the Rector Comparini. 
 
 " The Prior and the Confessor take the liberty 
 of going whenever they please into the vestry to 
 converse with their favourites, whereas, according to 
 the tenor of the Bull, they should not even commu- 
 nicate with them ad loquendum bonum : they have 
 parties of pleasure there, and eat with the nuns. 
 One time, on Easter-day, the other nuns going in 
 
104 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 a body to divert themselves there, surprised two 
 other monks along with them, each passing his time 
 gaily with his favourite nun. 
 
 " The said Prior and Confessor, when they come 
 into the convent to visit the sick, do not go to them 
 recto tramite, as the Bulls direct, but wherever they 
 please, and even alone with the nuns into their cells, 
 and they walk together in the garden. 
 
 " If they are attending on any nuns that are 
 dying, they eat and sleep in the monastery, which 
 is prohibited, and they eat with whom they please, 
 even with the sextonesses." 
 
 These irregularities are imputed not only to the 
 present Prior and Confessor, but to all tliose destined 
 from time to time for these employments, who are 
 guilty of constant ill conduct. 
 
 In a letter of Sister Flavia Peraccini to the 
 Rector Comparini, written 12th Aug. 1775, she 
 thus expresses herself: 
 
 " I learned yesterday morning that the ft^atesses 
 (monkesses) had a letter last Friday from the Cardi- 
 nal-protector of the order (I do not know his name) 
 in which he desires them to beseech the Lord to 
 give them patience ; that he would do all in his 
 power for them, but that they should not be in a 
 hurry, for the affair would be tedious. At all events, 
 both they and the monks keep up their hopes, and 
 make every effort to prevent any change. No one can 
 
SCIPIO DE IIICCI. 105 
 
 liave any idea of the extent of the intrigues of the 
 monks ; and the devices to whicli they have recourse 
 to secure themselves, are astonishing. To venture 
 to set themselves in opposition to the Prince ! — But 
 God be praised ! he is no fool, and it is he who 
 rules in Tuscany. 
 
 '* Every time I think of the plan of the Provin- 
 cial to make us all communicate, and then to make 
 us all sign a declaration that we attended the sacra- 
 ments, and that every thing was done in good order, 
 and thus make liars of us, — I must acknowledge I 
 am perfectly unable to restrain my astonishment." 
 
 The reader is now but too well acquainted with 
 the Dominican nuns and the monks theii' seducers. 
 It would be useless to make any observation on 
 the interest which one of the princes of the church 
 testified so openly for them, as well as the high 
 protection which he promised them to aid them in re- 
 suming as soon as possible their claustral amours and 
 returning to their libertine habits, against the will 
 of their legitimate Prince and their Bishop ; namely, 
 of those who were charged, as they say, by divine 
 rights to oblige them to live in a way the most use- 
 less or most innocuous to society. 
 
 We here also give some autograph letters of the 
 nuns of St. Catherine of Pistoia, to prove how far 
 the immodesty of the refractory nuns, and of the 
 monks their paramours, went. The former openly 
 
106 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 threatened the lives of such of the sisters as had 
 ventured to reveal that tissue of debauchery, and to 
 call on the Government to re-establish order and 
 good morals. 
 
 On May 15th, 1775, Sister Marianna Santini, 
 Prioress of St. Catherine, wrote to her diocesan Ala- 
 manni to say, that she and her sisters submitted them- 
 selves to him unconditionally, and promised every 
 thing that he required of them, " except a change of 
 sentiment, as we are determined to die rather than 
 live out of our holy order. The greater part of my 
 nuns are determined to go into some other monas- 
 tery of the order, and there is no other course to 
 adopt. — Ours is a single will, most free and reso- 
 lute, which will always make us adhere immutably 
 to what we freely chose in the act of our solemn 
 profession." 
 
 At the foot of this piece are these words : '* The 
 original was sent back through the Chancellor to 
 the writer, with directions that there should not be 
 any more letters of that kind written by her or by 
 any one else." 
 
 The complainants presented a petition to the 
 Vicar of Bishop Alamanni, praying that he would 
 deliver them from their turbulent companions. 
 
 " The poor nuns of St. Catherine of Pistoia salute 
 Monsignore the Vicar, and entreat him, by the bowels 
 of Jesus Christ, to remove five nuns and two con- 
 verses (lay sisters) who oppose the resolutions formed 
 
SCIPIO 1)E RICCI. 107 
 
 by his Royal Highness ; otherwise tliere will result 
 great mischief. They never cease to ill-treat the 
 complainants by words, and they threaten to come 
 to acts. We conceal ourselves through fear. Com- 
 plainants know not what to do, whether they should 
 quit the convent to save their lives. They pray 
 you to adopt some measures before evening, or, as 
 they have said, they will go out, &c. — I Sister 
 Anna Teresa Merlini — I Sister Rosa Peraccini — I 
 Sister Maria Clotilda Bambi — I Sister Maria Cate- 
 rina Rossi — I Sister Candida Botti — I Sister Anna 
 Luisa Saccardi — I Sister Gaetana Poggiali." 
 
 June 2nd, 1775, they wrote to the Bishop Ala- 
 manni himself. 
 
 " You must, most illustrious and reverend Sir, 
 be already acquainted with the treatment that we 
 experienced yesterday from Mother Ganucci, that 
 is, her calling one of us a fool, because a sigh es- 
 caped her at dinner, in so loud a voice as to be heard 
 at a great distance. She then, after dinner, called 
 us jades and audacious wretches, and threatened to 
 have us put to death. — La Biagiola and la Campi- 
 oni are always planning to -do us mischief, and to 
 poison us. We who know the sort of persons they 
 are, and their little fear of God, live in terror all 
 day and night. — They laughed at the communica- 
 tions made by you, my Lord ; and said quite loud 
 in the garden, (pardon us, and do not impute it 
 to want of respect) that you were a knave and a 
 
108 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 dolt, that wanted to play the braggadocio, because 
 you knew your power would soon be at an end, &c. 
 — Yesterday morning they read a book at the table, 
 in which it is said, that the Emperor Charles the 
 Fourth exempted the monks from the power of 
 princes, and that they are only subject to the Empire, 
 and in spirituals immediately to the Pope." 
 
 Sister Maria Caterina Rossi, when calling for a 
 new prioress for the convent of St. Catherine, (Aug. 
 2nd.) thus expressed herself on the subject of the 
 refractory nuns : 
 
 " Suffice it to say, that even in places requiring 
 silence, they presume to bawl out at the bottom of 
 the doors, even during the hours of repose ; and say 
 that we put ourselves in the hands of the Devil, when 
 we put ourselves in those of the priests ; and finally, 
 threaten to strangle us." 
 
 Sister Anna Merlini wrote to the Bishop, Aug. 14 : 
 " The monks, as well as the nuns, have obtained 
 what they desired ; they wished for the ruin of the 
 monastery, and they will see it. As soon as posses- 
 sion was taken by my Lord the Vicar, the Provincial 
 went to Florence, and the Prior to Rome ; for if 
 they could do nothing else, they would succeed in 
 having us displaced, and that the Confessor himself 
 said to more than one of us. — As I have said above, 
 they commenced a suit at Florence, and at Rome. 
 The lay-brother belonging to the last Provincial, re- 
 mained here to give all the news to the nuns, and to 
 
scirio DE RICCI. 109 
 
 extract from them every thing they knew, to com- 
 municate it to his superiors." 
 
 Finally, we read in a letter of the 23rd Oct. from 
 Sister Rosa Peraccini to the same prelate, that the 
 refractory nuns said to a person whom the Grand- 
 duke had sent to them, " that they would never 
 submit to the government of low, vile priests ;" and 
 many other similar expressions. 
 
 The Bishop Alamanni in vain addressed the Court 
 of Rome; in vain did he call for aid, and paint in the 
 liveliest colours his affliction at finding his power 
 altogether insufficient for the difficulties of the times. 
 He obtained not even an answer. 
 
 On June 13th, 1775, he wrote to the Congregation 
 of Bishops and Regulars; on July 18th, to Cardinal 
 Caraffa; but the same silence continued. In the 
 mean while, the nuns laughed at the menaces, as well 
 as the exhortations of their pastor. The conduct of 
 the Cardinal-prefect, however, did not destroy all 
 the hope of Alamanni. He wrote again, Sept. 5, 
 to Cardinal Torrigiani, his old friend. He told him 
 all the anxiety of his mind, and how much he suffered 
 in seeing himself so deserted; but the only consolation 
 he received from Torrigiani was an assurance, that 
 he pitied his situation, and that he would do all in his 
 power to bring the subject again into consideration. 
 " It is not," says Ricci, in this place, " that Ala- 
 manni knew not in what manner, or to what extent 
 he might use his authority ; but he was not w ilhng 
 
110 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 to hurt the prejudices either of his flock, which was 
 favourable to Rome, or of tlie nobles of Pistoia, 
 the daughters of whom peopled the two refractory- 
 convents. Nor was he willing to embroil himself 
 in a quarrel with the See of Rome. He commu- 
 nicated to the Grand-duke the motives for this re- 
 straint ; and the latter, who loved him ardently, as- 
 sured him that he had no personal reason to fear 
 either the intrigues of the monks, or the snares of the 
 Nuntio. Finding that the Cardinal Torrigiani ob- 
 tained nothing from the Congregation of Bishops, 
 Alamanni prayed him, 14th Nov. to address Pius the 
 Sixth himself. Torrigiani did so, and the month 
 following he returned Alamanni an account of the 
 Pope's reply. " The Holy Father," he said, " was 
 not willing, in any way, to approve of the innova- 
 tions illegally introduced into the two convents ; and 
 especially the design of the Tuscan Government 
 to take away the direction of the convents from all 
 the regular orders, the abuse of which the Pope de- 
 clared he believed to be dictated by calumny." The 
 Bishop of Pistoia died in the same month. 
 
 Ippoliti, his successor, the compatriot of the re- 
 fractory nuns, and the relation even of many of them, 
 hoped to overcome them by patience and kindness ; 
 but he was no more successful than Alamanni. He 
 succeeded also as little in obtaining any assistance 
 from the Congregation of Bishops ; till at length the 
 disorders increased to such a height, that Leopold 
 
scirio DE lllCCI. Ill 
 
 himself interposed his autliority. Intending to pur- 
 sue more general measures, in the hope that they 
 would be more efficacious, he addressed a circular to 
 the Tuscan bishops, desiring them to demand of the 
 See of Rome the removal of the convents from the 
 direction of the monks, and their submission to the 
 spiritual government of the ordinaries. This mea- 
 sure had been constantly desired from the time of 
 Cosmo the First, and the Grand-duke conceived the 
 project of effecting it. The circulars were sent in 
 Dec. 1776. The bishops who received them, were 
 not ignorant of the excesses which the Prince wished 
 to extirpate. They knew also that the direction of 
 the convents by the monks was in direct opposition 
 to all the reforms which he intended to introduce for 
 the good of religion throughout the States ; and they 
 had, consequently, no excuse for resisting his orders. 
 But the Avocat Fei, the chargd-d'affaires for Tus- 
 cany, was not a fit negotiator in such a business. 
 Of narrow views, blindly attached to the Court of 
 Rome, and the devoted friend and admirer of the 
 celebrated P. Mamachi, he permitted himself to be 
 blinded by the pontifical government. Although, 
 therefore, he pretended to assist the reform, he ren- 
 dered his concessions of no avail, by the condition 
 with which it was burdened, namely, that every 
 Tuscan bishop should give an account of the con- 
 vents, the spiritual direction of which was in his 
 hands, in order that a proof might thus be afforded 
 
112 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 of the necessity of the transfer. This was the true 
 method to carry on the disputes without end. The 
 Bishop IppoUti imagined that nothing should pre- 
 vent the renewal of his complaints, or his demands to 
 have all the convents committed to his power. But 
 he soon discovered his mistake : the Court of Rome 
 grants every thing to submission, and by favour ; 
 nothing to justice, to right and demand. Ippoliti 
 received in Jan. 1777, a letter from the Pope, in 
 which he not only refused what the prelate had re- 
 quested, but heaped reproaches upon him for having 
 recalled an affair to the recollection of his Holiness, 
 which he hoped had been forgotten since the death 
 of Alamanni. The Bishop is, moreover, especially 
 rebuked with having contributed to the execution of 
 the plan of the Grand-duke to take the direction of 
 the convents from the hands of the regulars, a plan, 
 it is said, opposed to the canons, and hurtful to reli- 
 gion and the monastic orders. The only attempt at 
 softening the refusal of this and Leopold's request, 
 was the putting of a few neglected and altogether 
 vicious convents into the hands of some Tuscan 
 bishops. 
 
 Ippoliti had another ray of hope ; but he had too 
 much good sense to be a favourite with the See of 
 Rome, and the only concessions he could obtain, was 
 a permission to transfer the refractory nuns of St. 
 Catherine to the convent of St. Clement of Prato, 
 which was under the direction of the Dominicans, 
 and where they were received in triumph. 
 
SCIPIO DE KICCI. 113 
 
 Still greater disorders than those which had been 
 supposed to exist at Pistoia, were soon discovered 
 at Prato. Ricci had his attention directed towards 
 the latter by the disgraceful disorders of two of the 
 nuns. All the evil which existed was attributable 
 to the Dominican monks. For many years, says 
 the Bishop, these women lived plunged in the most 
 infamous debauchery. The name of the one was 
 Catherine Irene Buonamici, sprung from a noble fa- 
 mily in Prato, and aged fifty years ; the other, 
 Clodesin de Spighi, of equally noble descent, and 
 aged thirty-eight years. Every means had been em- 
 ployed by the Dominicans to prevent any of the cir- 
 cumstances from transpiring. When Ricci, however, 
 received the government of the diocese, and Father 
 Vincent Majocchi was appointed confessor to the 
 convent of St. Catherine, the dreadful situation of 
 its members became exposed to public notice. At 
 the feast of Pentecost, Majocchi, more scrupulous 
 than his predecessors, refused the two nuns we have 
 mentioned, absolution. In an instant the affair be- 
 came known abroad. The episcopal Vicar of Prato, 
 Lorenzo Palli, was informed of it, and Ricci himself 
 hearing it reported, sent to obtain the details from 
 the Vicar. The latter answered, that the nuns be- 
 lieved neither the sacraments of the church, nor the 
 eternity of another life ; that they denied certain 
 criminal actions to be sins, and especially those of 
 the flesh. Not content with what he had done, 
 
 VOL. I. I 
 
114 IvrEMOIRS OF 
 
 Majocchi went himself to Pistoia, to give the Bishop, 
 and the Peniteiicier of the cathedral, who was the 
 uncle of Spighi, an account of what had passed ; but 
 so oppressed was he with the difficulties which pre- 
 sented themselves to a reform, that, notwithstanding 
 the remonstrances of Ricci, he resigned his office. 
 
 Ricci wished to do nothing in this affair without 
 the concurrence of the Dominicans themselves ; but 
 the rudeness and obstinacy with which they replied to 
 his overture, were almost past belief The Bishop, 
 however, had to congratulate himself afterwards that 
 no compromise took place, and that he was left to pur- 
 sue his reformation to the utmost. The Grand-duke, 
 having been informed by him of what had occurred, 
 began by giving the most severe orders that no com- 
 munication should take place between the convent 
 of St. Catherine and the Dominican monks. He 
 also collected whatever documents might tend to 
 prove the complicated baseness of the Dominicans, 
 and that also of the Dominicans at Pistoia in 
 1774, and which might enable him to examine the 
 affair in all its ramifications. He submitted the 
 measures which had been taken, two years after, 
 (1776,) to the Court of Rome, to obtain for the 
 bishops the direction of the convents, but which 
 measures the intrigues of the Dominicans at Rome 
 totally destroyed. He promised himself that he 
 should not be a second time the sport of their 
 cunning. 
 
sciPio DE mcci. 115 
 
 The monks perceived the danger of their situ- 
 ation, and could discover no other method of les- 
 sening it, than that of exciting the people in their 
 favour against tlie Government. For this purpose 
 they prepared a nun of the convent of St. Vincent 
 at Pistoia, and obliged her to feign an ecstasy before 
 the shrine which contains the body of St. Catherine. 
 When this was done, a report was spread that the 
 city was menaced, by this celestial sign, with some 
 dreadful scourge. Instantly the church of the Re- 
 collets was filled with women, thinking the world 
 was at an end, and demanding confession ; nor was 
 the tumult appeased till it was said that the misfor- 
 tune only threatened the children of St. Dominic. 
 
 The disorders discovered at Prato were only the 
 sequel of those which the Government had rooted 
 out of the convents of Pistoia. Of what these were, 
 tlie following will give some idea. They are two 
 letters of Sister Flavia Peraccini, Prioress of St. 
 Catherine of Pistoia, to Dr. Thomas Comparini, 
 rector of the episcopal seminary in the same city. 
 There are autographs of them in the Ricci archives, 
 and they are either of the year 1775, when the 
 same nun communicated to Bishop Alamanni other 
 details which we have already given, or of 1781, 
 when she continued to inform Bishop Ricci of what 
 it was requisite for him to know. This is, however, 
 of no importance whatever ; the facts are the same. 
 The nun relates what passed before her eyes in her 
 
 I 2 
 
116 IMEMOmS OF 
 
 own convent, what had passed there before she 
 wrote, and what still continued to take place in 
 other convents, particularly at Prato. The first let- 
 ter is dated Jan. 22nd : 
 
 " In compliance with the request which you made 
 me this day, I hasten to say something, but I know 
 not how ; for it would require both time and memo- 
 ry to recollect what has occurred during the twenty- 
 four years that I have had to do with monks, and all 
 that I have heard tell of them. Of those who are 
 gone to the other world I shall say nothing ; of those 
 who are still alive, and have little decency of con- 
 duct, there are very many, among whom there is 
 an ex-provincial named Father Doctor Ballendi ; 
 then the Fathers Donati, Pacini, Buzzaccherini, 
 Calvi, Zoratti, Bigliacci, Guidi, Miglietti, Verde, 
 Bianchi, Ducci, Serafini, BoUa, Nera di Lucca, Qua- 
 retti. But wherefore name any more? With the 
 exception of three or four, all that I ever knew, 
 alive or dead, are of the same character ; they have 
 all the same maxims and the same conduct. They 
 are on more intimate terms with the nuns than if 
 they were married to them. 
 
 " I repeat it, it would require time to tell half I 
 know. It is the custom now, that, when they come to 
 visit any sick sister, they sup with the nuns, they sing, 
 dance, play, and sleep in the convent. It is a maxim 
 of theirs, that God has forbidden hatred, but not love ; 
 and that the man is made for the woman, and the 
 
SCIPIO DE IIICCI. 117 
 
 woman for the man. They teach us to amuse our- 
 selves, saying, that St. Paul has said the same, who 
 wrought with his own hands. I say that they 
 can deceive the innocent, and even those that are 
 most circumspect, and that it would need a miracle 
 to converse with them and not to fall. 
 
 " The priests are the hushands of the nuns, and 
 the lay-brothers of the lay-sisters. In the chamber 
 of one of those I have mentioned, a man was one day 
 found ; he fled, but very soon after they gave him to 
 us as confessor extraordinary. How many bishops 
 are there in the Papal States who have come to the 
 knowledge of some disorder, have held examina- 
 tions and visitations, and yet could never remedy it ; 
 because the monks tell us that those are excom- 
 municated who reveal what passes in the order ! 
 ' Poor creatures ! (said I to an English provincial, 
 I do not recollect his name,) they think they are 
 leaving the world to escape danger, and they only 
 meet with greater. Our fathers and mothers have 
 given us a good education, and here we learn the 
 Ave Maria backwards.' He knew not what reply to 
 make to me. God is my witness, I speak without 
 passion. The monks have never done any thing to 
 me personally to make me dislike them ; but I will 
 say that so iniquitous a race as the monks no where 
 exists. Bad as the seculars are, they do not at all 
 come up to them ; and the art of the monks with the 
 world and their superiors baffles description. 
 
118 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 " Wlien they notify the death of a nun, they 
 make a panegyric on her in the circular letter, to 
 show that they know how to direct these poor grace- 
 less creatures ! God only knows if they are not ut- 
 terly lost. How ill they are attended when on the 
 bed of death ! That, indeed, is carnival-time. 
 
 " When they gave us the holy- water every year, 
 they threw every thing, even the beds, into disorder. 
 What a racket they used to make ! One time they 
 washed Father Manni's face, and dressed him like a 
 nun. In short, it was a perpetual scene of amuse- 
 ment : — comedies and conversation for ever. Every 
 monk who passed by on his way to the chapter, they 
 found some means of showing into the convent, and 
 entreated a sick sister to confess herself. Everlast- 
 ing scandal about husbands, — of those who had stolen 
 the mistress of such a one ; how others had avenged 
 themselves in the chapter ; and how they would not 
 have forgiven even in death : — I could tell so much 
 that I should quite fatigue you. 
 
 " Do not suppose that this is the case in our con- 
 vent alone. It is just the same at St. Lucia, at 
 Prato, at Pisa, at Perugia ; and I have heard things 
 related that would astonish you. Every where it 
 is the same, every where the same disorders, every 
 where the same abuses prevail. I say, and I repeat 
 it, that let the superiors suspect as they may, they 
 do not know even the smallest part of the enormous 
 
SCIPIO DE lUCCI. 119 
 
 wickedness that goes on between the monks and the 
 nuns." 
 
 The next day Mother Peraccini, who had been 
 interrogated respecting Father Buzzaccherini of St. 
 Lucia, replied by the following letter. These details 
 had been required of her because it was known that 
 that monk had been sent as confessor to the nuns of 
 St. Vincent of Pistoia, where it had been ascertained, 
 the confessors were in the habit of staying every day 
 till midnight, to the knowledge of the whole town. 
 
 " With respect to Father Buzzaccherini, I say 
 that he acted just like the rest, sitting up late, divert- 
 ing himself, and letting the visual disorders go on. 
 There were several nuns who had love affairs. His 
 own mistress was Odaldi, of St. Lucia, who used 
 to send him continual treats ; and he was in love 
 with the daughter of our factor, of whom they were 
 very jealous here. He too, like the other monks, 
 used to send us his dirty linen. He ruined poor 
 Cancellieri, who was sextoness, for he was always 
 asking something from her, and almost every morn- 
 ing she had to dress him some nice dish. 
 
 " No other particulars respecting him have come 
 to my knowledge ; but as I have said, if he had done 
 his duty, he would have prevented some sisters from 
 having portraits in their chambers, and of using 
 paint. Be assured of the truth, they are all alike." 
 
 In the same letter we read : " Some years ago the 
 
120 MEiMOlllS OF 
 
 nuns of St. Vincent, in consequence of the extraor- 
 dinary passion they had for Father Lupi and Father 
 Borghigiani of their order, were divided into two 
 parties, one calUng themselves Le Lupe, the other 
 Le Borghigiani." 
 
 Finally, we read in a postscript, " He who made 
 the greatest noise in St. Lucia was Donati, but I 
 believe he is now at Rome. Father Brandi too was 
 also in great vogue. I do not know but he is now 
 prior at S. Gernignano. 
 
 " It is true, as you said yesterday, that the tem- 
 poral is not oppressive, but the nun who is always 
 giving to the friar, how does she observe her vow of 
 poverty? — At St. Vincent, which passes for a sanc- 
 tuary, they also have their lovers." 
 
 We have said that the direction of the female 
 convents by the regulars exclusively, of what order 
 soever, usually produced corruption of morals. We 
 have already given several proofs of this, and we 
 shall give more in the sequel. It will be sufficient 
 to give here the letter written from Rome the 25th 
 October, 1781, by the Advocate Zanobetti to Bishop 
 Ricci : the autograph is in the archives of the family 
 of the latter. 
 
 The advocate hopes, that it will end with the 
 general adoption of withdrawing the nuns from the 
 spiritual direction of the monks, " especially in those 
 states, where some years ago it was necessary to 
 raze from the foundations one of men belonging to 
 
scirio DE Kiccr. 121 
 
 the barefooted Carmelites, the other of women of the 
 same order, which were joined, and in which, by 
 means of subterranean passages, they led the ordi- 
 nary life of men and women." Zanobetti had been 
 five years employed in the office of assessor of the 
 Inquisition, and he knew, he says, much more 
 about monks and nuns than the Bishop of Pistoia 
 possibly could. 
 
122 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Examination of the Nuns of Prato. — Obstinacy of the Pope. — 
 He at length yields to Leopold. — Ricci's visit to La INIon- 
 tagne — Improvements in that district. — Pteform of ecclesias- 
 tical studies. 
 
 It has been seen that the nuns of St. Lucia, in the 
 city of Pistoia, had voluntarily submitted themselves 
 to their new pastor. Weariness, ennui, and princi- 
 pally their being deprived of the support of the con- 
 vent of St. Catherine, had led to this, and induced 
 them to believe that no efforts they could make, 
 would bring back the monks. This was not the 
 case at Prato. The pride and madness of the Domi- 
 nicans, opposed to the firmness of the Prince and the 
 Bishop, drove things every day to greater extremity. 
 The resorts of cunning remained, and a monk at- 
 tempted to employ them, but in vain. At the moment 
 when he was least expected, Father Calvi, a Domi- 
 nican, arrived at Prato, authorized by an order from 
 the Grand-duke to co-operate with Ricci in the ex- 
 amination of the existing abuses. He had been 
 
SCIPIO DE RICCI. 123 
 
 warmly recommended to the Prince by Seratti, his 
 secretary, who, it is supposed, hoped by this measure 
 to moderate the zeal of Ricci. But Calvi spoiled all, 
 by acting his part improperly ; and Ricci, informed 
 of his conduct, immediately made Leopold acquaint- 
 ed with his character, and liad him recalled. 
 
 A Servite, named P. Baldi, had been commissioned 
 by Ricci to examine the nuns and boarders of the 
 convent of St. Catherine. During this affair, every 
 one connected in any way with the Dominicans, 
 was in the greatest agitation. " It is more easy 
 to imagine," says M. I'Abbe X. " than to de- 
 scribe, the fury of the monks and their adherents 
 at Prato. Tumults and secret machinations were 
 continually formed, to free the accused nuns, and 
 destroy every proof of their guilt. These turbu- 
 lent monks had also a powerful assistant in the 
 Papal Nuncio for Tuscany. He afforded them aid 
 and protection, because he knew that their disho- 
 nour would fall in a great measure on the Court of 
 Rome. He defended, and prohibited the ex-Jesuits, 
 whom his court also supported, because it saw that 
 if it would continue to be a court, it must not allow 
 these vigorous satellites of its despotism to be crushed. 
 It, moreover, was only waiting for a favourable mo- 
 ment for setting them on their legs again. 
 
 June 10th 1781, Ricci wrote to the minister 
 Seratti : 
 
 " The Dominicans are in motion ; the Nuncio does 
 not relax in his efforts to save them. It is not at all 
 
124 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 unlikely that he will endeavour to have the cause 
 brought before himself, under the pretext of having 
 received a special commission from his court, and 
 in the hope, that the affair going on tediously, ac- 
 cording to the usual policy of the Holy See, people 
 will at last get tired, and matters remain in statu 
 quo.'" 
 
 In the same letter we read : " They say at Rome, 
 to defend the monks, that the two nuns are mad ; but 
 up to the present hour, no one has ever taken them 
 for such. Besides, Sister Buonamici was prioress of 
 her society ten or twelve years ago. She and Sister 
 Spighi were in 1775 or 1776, the one mistress, the 
 other second mistress of the novices. Finally, they 
 have been always admitted to partake of the sacra- 
 ments, and that alone is enough to condemn the 
 monks." 
 
 A word more about the Nuncio. As protector of 
 the licentiousness of the monks, he thought he might 
 at least partake of their less scandalous pleasures. 
 By a letter of the Abbe de Bellegarde, one of the 
 heads of the Jansenists at Utrecht, to the Bishop of 
 Pistoia, (March 25th, 1782) we see that he com- 
 plained of this unclerical conduct : " What a scan- 
 dal," replied the zealous Abbe, " to see monks at 
 Florence giving in their convents, comedies, masqued 
 balls, &c. and to see the Nuncio of his HoUness 
 present at them!" 
 
 But nothing could damp the courage or zeal of 
 
scirio DE iiicci. 125 
 
 Ricci. The examination was continued, and the 
 report of it sent to Leopold, who commissioned his 
 charge d'affaires at tlie Court of Rome to bring the 
 subject before the Pope with all diligence. 
 
 The Grand-duke testified his impatience for a re- 
 ply to his demands, by sending a courier extraordi- 
 nary, who was not to quit Rome without an answer. 
 The result was expected as anxiously by many of the 
 nuns, as by Leopold ; and the examination into the 
 abuses of the convent of St. Clement was stopped, 
 till it should be known. In the mean time, fresh 
 proofs were every day sent to Ricci of the licentious- 
 ness of the monks and nuns. The public places and 
 the shops of Prato resounded with reports of their 
 excesses, and there was not a female who had been 
 on an errand to the convent, who had not some an- 
 ecdote to tell of their conduct. The boarders bore 
 the same testimony to the barefaced vices of the 
 nuns ; and one mentioned that she had seen a play 
 of Goldoni's, " La Vedova Scaltra," performed much 
 better by the nuns of St. Catherine than at the 
 theatre. The Confessor was the most conspicuous 
 of the spectators, and the performance, it is said, 
 was followed by conduct not fit to be related. 
 
 Ricci had taken every precaution in his power to 
 stop the evil of this pubhc scandal, but in vain ; and 
 he was obliged at last to have recourse to sending 
 the two accused nuns to Florence. This was the 
 more necessary, as the sisters had been seized with 
 
126 iAIEMOIRS OF 
 
 the spirit of proselytism, and, liaving lost the oppor- 
 tunity of spreading their opinions through the con- 
 vent, they made an effort to corrupt the persons ap- 
 pointed to attend them in their confinement. Before 
 their departure from his diocese, Ricci had them 
 again examined, together with their companions, and 
 made them sign their confessions in a formal manner 
 before the proper legal authorities. What was most 
 remarkable, as Ricci observes, was that Buonamici, in 
 making her deposition, kept adding explanations of 
 the most indelicate nature, to develope the system 
 of impiety and mysticism which had led her into 
 error. She and Spighi were sent to Florence by 
 night in separate carriages, attended by a priest, 
 a layman, and an aged female : they were put into 
 the Hospital des Insensds at Florence, where their 
 behaviour was tranquil and settled. 
 
 Ricci has given in his Memoirs a full account of 
 the wretched mental condition of the unfortunate 
 sisters. Buonamici was endowed with great natural 
 abiHty, and had composed several pieces of poetry of 
 considerable merit. She had read Voltaire and Rous- 
 seau, and had stored her mind with their opinions. 
 But her understanding had been chiefly perverted by 
 the corruption of her manners. Imbued with both 
 the impurities and the errors of the Gnostics, she be- 
 gan to make converts of her companions to her own 
 ideas, but was contented with their becoming accom- 
 plices in her licentious conduct without penetrating 
 
SCIPIO DE RICCI. 127 
 
 farther into the mysteries of her system. Spighi, on 
 the contrary, she believed to be more capable of com- 
 prehending her whole scheme of doctrine ; but the 
 latter was of an inferior mind to her teacher, and 
 was not equally able, when examined, to elude the 
 questions which were intended to lay open their 
 conduct and opinions. Buonamici had sufficient sub- 
 tlety and knowledge of the scriptures to torment 
 her examiner, Doctor Longinelli, who afterwards 
 acknowledged that there were many of her sophisms 
 put so ingeniously, that at the time he was unable 
 properly to combat them. Ricci has truly said that 
 it is impossible to consider the frightful errors into 
 which these deluded women had fallen, without 
 horror. The holiest rites of religion had been sub- 
 jected by them to the most disgusting obscenities ; 
 every doctrine of scripture was interpreted by them 
 so as to authorize some shameful sensual indulgence ; 
 and they pretended that for whatever they did or 
 believed, they had the special illumination of the 
 Holy Spirit. 
 
 The Bishop of Pistoia remitted to Rome whatever 
 information he obtained on this important affair. 
 At first this attention seemed to be well received, 
 but it soon became different. Cardinal Pallavicini, 
 the only one who had induced the Court of Rome 
 to act at all reasonably, was obliged, on account of 
 his health, to retire into the country and leave the 
 office of Secretary of State to Cardinal Rezzonico. 
 
128 MEMOIKS OF 
 
 The first indication which the latter gave of his dis- 
 position, was in his reply to Cardinal Corsini, who 
 had asked him to confer upon Ricci, without delay, 
 authority over the Dominican convents in his diocese. 
 His answer was only virulent abuse of the Bishop, 
 and of his conduct respecting the devotion of the 
 Sacred Heart. 
 
 Cardinal Rezzonico was at the head of the Jesuit 
 faction ; the Dominican party joined it, and the 
 league was strengthened by the common dangers 
 and interests of both. A powerful party was thus 
 formed against Ricci ; but his resolution remained 
 unshaken. He continued to write to Rome, and 
 to every one whom he thought able to assist him in 
 obtaining the consent of the Pope to his reformation 
 of the convent of St. Catherine. His letter to 
 Cardinal Corsini, dated July 3, 1781, is as follows: 
 
 " What I have ascertained by means of the ex- 
 amination held by the Inquisitor-extraordinary, fills 
 me with horror ; and the two unfortunate wretcJies 
 have not only confirmed what was said by the nuns 
 and the boarders, but have even, with unspeakable 
 impudence, said still more, confessing even a most 
 horrible abuse of the sacrament of the Eucliarist. 
 With the exception of a Portuguese ex-Jesuit, Bot- 
 tillo, who conversed with them every day for an 
 entire summer, after they had been already infected, 
 I have not been able to discover with certainty any 
 others guilty of teaching them such wicked princi- 
 
SCIPIO DE RICCI. 129 
 
 pies ; and even on him nothing can be positively fixed, 
 except indecent acts and language. Ricci adds that 
 the two nuns only sought in their replies to excul- 
 pate the Dominicans from the charge of being their 
 accomplices ; which is also apparent fi'om their ori- 
 ginal examinations. We have fortunately the tes- 
 timony of IMother Flavia Peraccini to fill up that 
 void in their confessions, a testimony we have 
 already given. Taken with the information given 
 by the sisters Buonamici and Spighi themselves, 
 it serves to establish irrefutably the truth of what 
 was indeed most probable, viz. that the confessors 
 and priors whom they name, were the sole teachers 
 of Spinozism, materialism, quietism, and licentious- 
 ness, with which these nuns were infected. 
 
 Another letter of Ricci to the same Cardinal, 
 July 7, 1781, says: 
 
 " The conduct pursued by so many provincials, 
 priors, and confessors in this and in other convents, 
 would make one apprehend that the evil was in the 
 body, and that they systematically held opinions 
 
 contrary to the law of Jesus Christ With what 
 
 confidence can bishops admit these men to the office 
 of confessors, among whom we know that such evil 
 prevails, although not in whom it is." 
 
 The same day, (July 7,) the Bishop of Pistoia 
 wrote to the Pope, and sent him a detailed report 
 of the principles which formed the doctrine main- 
 tained by the two nuns of St. Catherine of Prato. 
 
 VOL. I. K 
 
130 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 These principles were all deduced from the answers 
 made by the two nuns themselves in their exami- 
 nations already given. 
 
 In another letter, of the 15th of July, Ricci in- 
 forms the Pope that the two nuns, who had been 
 removed to Florence, as well as those who remained 
 at Prato, refused to accuse any monk of their order, 
 and that they even complained bitterly of the suspi- 
 cions entertained against their confessors. They 
 maintained that they had no need either of books, 
 or of instructions, written or verbal, to form into a 
 system the doctrines they professed, and which, they 
 asserted, arose spontaneously in their mind. The 
 Bishop of Pistoia added to his letter the depositions 
 of the nuns of St. Catherine of that city, made in 
 1 775, when that convent was taken from under the 
 direction of the Dominicans, — depositions of which the 
 subjects display the same errors as were afterwards 
 found among the nuns of Prato, and which from 
 that time were ascribed to the instructions and in- 
 sinuations of the monks. He relates this circum- 
 stance as a new proof of what it was so important 
 to demonstrate fully, viz. that these monks were 
 alone guilty of all the disorders in the convent of 
 Prato, whither they had gone to take the spiritual 
 direction of the nuns of their order, after having 
 perverted those of Pistoia. 
 
 Ricci also wrote (July 3, 1781,) to Father Vas- 
 quez, the General of the order of the Augustinians, 
 
SCIPIO DE IITCCI. 131 
 
 to beg of him to have Buonamici's brother, who was 
 under him, examined, and whom the depositions 
 showed to have been in a very intimate relation with 
 the convent of Prato. 
 
 Vasquez repHed, August IcSth, that this monk was 
 very sim})le, devout, and even scrui)ulous, so much 
 so that he thought one time he ought to denounce 
 his sister for having spoken in his presence some 
 suspicious words on the subject of religion. 
 
 In the above-mentioned letter to Father Vasquez, 
 Ricci says : " I know that now the two unfortunate 
 wretches, and especially Buonamici, have deposed, at 
 Florence, several additional circumstances, and have 
 mentioned the Dominicans as being their teachers 
 and encGuragers in that school of iniquity." 
 
 The suspicions of the Bishop of Pistoia were thus 
 completely confirmed, and there remained not the 
 least doubt of the moral and religious depravity of 
 the entire order of St. Dominic, — a depravity which 
 the monks had incessantly laboured to propagate by 
 initiating in the system of the most impious mate- 
 rialism, the nuns who were afterwards to minister 
 to their sensual pleasures. We shall see that this 
 order was not the only one which had thus orga- 
 nized licentiousness by means of false opinions. We 
 read in a letter from Signor Foggini to the Bishop 
 of Pistoia, (Rome, July 12, 1781,) these words : — 
 
 " I was told yesterday that it has been said 
 that the fiirst seducer of this convent was a Jesuit. 
 
 K 2 
 
132 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 It may be false, but I write it as a piece of news. 
 I know a monastery in which a Jesuit used to make 
 the nuns lift up their clothes, assuring them that 
 tliey thereby performed an act of virtue, because 
 they overcame a natural repugnance." 
 
 It had been falsely reported at Rome that neither 
 the General of the Dominicans, nor the Pope, who 
 were, it was said, the natural superiors of the nuns, 
 had been informed of any thing with which they 
 should have been made acquainted. This, it was said, 
 was a sufficient proof that unlawful means had been 
 taken to assist the usurpation of the rights and 
 authority of the Holy See. Ricci, who saw all the 
 importance of such an accusation, lost no time in 
 proving that the Dominican nuns had made frequent 
 appeals to Rome and to their superiors, without ob- 
 taining a reply. They had especially addressed Pius 
 the Sixth, and the General Bonadois, but in vain ; 
 and the proof of this is given by the depositions of 
 those who had sent the letters. 
 
 One of the most important circumstances in this 
 singular affair is the manner in which the Pope and 
 the General of the Dominicans were implicated in a 
 matter of heresy, profanation, sacrilege, impiety, and 
 licentiousness, — a matter of which they knew all the 
 details, but which they seem to have regarded as 
 calling for concealment rather than punishment. 
 This circumstance will make every tndy religious 
 mind shudder. Besides the wrath of the head of 
 
SCIPIO DE lUCCl. 133 
 
 a monastic order of shameful celebrity, and of 
 the head of all catholics, against tliose who could 
 not extirpate errors and put an end to turpitude 
 except by making them puljlic, the following pieces 
 will serve to demonstrate completely what we have 
 only advanced — the authority of the pious Bishop of 
 Pistoia. 
 
 Pius the Sixth, in his insolent brief to Ricci, dated 
 May 30, asserted that he himself would not have dared 
 to conceive suspicions against the most holif order of 
 the Dominicans. Abbe Mengoni had but little trou- 
 ble in turning this childish fear into ridicule. He 
 proves that his holiness might easily have satisfied 
 himself of the exact truth of all that the Bishop of 
 Pistoia and Prato had written to him relative to the 
 Dominican monks and nuns. He had only to direct 
 his Nuncio at Florence to search the archives of Pis- 
 toia, and he would have found all that we have just 
 given respecting the disorders in the convents of 
 Tuscany spiritually directed by the monks of St. 
 Dominic, disorders that had been known to prevail 
 these hundred and forty years. Moreover, should not 
 the Pope have recollected the reasons which induced 
 him to take from under the government of the Do- 
 minicans five convents of Siena, Pisa, and Pistoia, a 
 little after the denunciations of the vear 1774, of 
 which he had a perfect knowledge? 
 
 Still farther : it is clear from a letter of Monsig- 
 nor Foggini to Bishop Ricci, written at Rome, July 
 
134 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 21, 1781, that there had been seen a sort of confes- 
 sion made to the Pope by a nun of St. Catherine of 
 Prato, before Ricci was informed of wliat was pass- 
 ing in that convent, and which had undoubtedly 
 been put into the hands of the pontifical Secretary 
 of state. Finally, a Sister Teresa di Gesu, a nun of 
 S. Sepolcro, wrote the 17th of the same month, that 
 she had made Sister Spighi make a similar confes- 
 sion to the General of the Dominicans, that she had 
 herself addressed the general relative to that affair, 
 and had concealed from him nothing of all that had 
 come to her knowledge. This did not prevent Pius 
 the Sixth from asserting in his brief what the General 
 of the Dominicans had assured him of, viz : " That 
 in the Secretary's office there was nothing of the dis- 
 orders now discovered." 
 
 In a letter from Ricci to Seratti, secretary of the 
 Grand-duke, written August 15th, 1781, he says, 
 there had just been found the letters of a Capuchine 
 nun of Borgo, or S. Sepolcro, and of a lay-sister of 
 Sister Spighi. It is plain from them, " That the 
 facts were known to many ; that they had recourse 
 to abjurations with the greatest facility; that Mon- 
 signor Ippoliti, who (as I have learned from another 
 quarter) was almost immediately assured that tliey 
 had laid down their errors, had found out something 
 wrong," &c. 
 
 Other letters of the Capuchine prove that Sister 
 Spighi endeavoured to seduce her ; that she had 
 
scirio DE Ricci. 135 
 
 other companions besides Buonamici ; that these were 
 also friends of the Capuchine, and ceased to write to 
 her when she spoke plainly to Spiglii, and dropped the 
 correspondence. These letters, moreover, prove that 
 in the holy year information was given at Rome ; 
 and it appears that the General, who says that he 
 finds nothing in his archives, must have known it 
 from that time." 
 
 The Advocate Zanobetti, in a letter to the Bishop 
 of Pistoia, written from Rome, Oct. 25, 1781, says : 
 " Every week this haughty General (F. Quinones, of 
 the Dominicans) is at a dinner-party of infidels and 
 libertines." Zanobetti pities the Pope, who seemed 
 ignorant " of what human wickedness is under the 
 veil of hypocrisy, and with the certainty of impunity." 
 
 " It was his wish to praise the Dominicans in his 
 famous brief of reproach to Ricci," adds the bishop's 
 correspondent, " that made the Pope engage so 
 warmly, and with so much discredit to himself, in a 
 matter that makes him an object of pity." 
 
 In a letter from Paid Delmare to Ricci, (Genoa, 
 Aug. 4, 1781,) he says, " I know that in Rome it- 
 self, whither the regular orders send their youths to 
 study, there is a college where infidelity is syste- 
 matically inculcated." 
 
 However this may be, Cardinal Corsini, M. Fog- 
 gini, the Avocat Fei, and the Abbe Martini, who 
 was at Rome to be consecrated Archbishop of Flo- 
 rence, and who feared the same disorders in his 
 
136 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 diocese, determined on obtaining from his Holiness a 
 remedy for the convents of Pistoia, and such a re- 
 medy as might be applied to any, where a similar 
 evil should be discovered. But they were diverted 
 by Fei, who was himself devoted to Father Mamachi 
 and the Minervites ; their conduct was, in conse- 
 quence, so uncertain, that the Pope thought he 
 should be able to take advantage of their feebleness ; 
 and he signed a brief addressed to Ricci, entirely 
 drawn up by Zaccaria, an ancient Jesuit, and by 
 Mamachi, the most violent of the Dominicans, de- 
 voted to the Roman court. 
 
 We have already frequently had occasion to speak 
 of the singular propositions contained in this brief of 
 the Pope, and particularly of the misplaced and 
 unseasonable eulogy which the Holy Father there 
 passes on the order of St. Dominic. This eidogy 
 is followed by one on the Inquisition, still more 
 absurd than the first. " These may appear pa- 
 radoxes," says Abb6 Mengoni, " but it is certain 
 that the Holy Father has, when he had no need 
 to do it, commended a tribunal that is a disho- 
 nour to our holy religion." Pius the Sixth wished 
 to withdraw the two nuns of St. Catherine from 
 the inexoraljle public justice of the Bishop, to give 
 them to the secret procedures of the Holy Office. 
 There a general confession, in the style of those they 
 had already made so often, would, as we shall see 
 a Uttlc farther on, have not only obtained them en- 
 
scirio DE mcci. 137 
 
 tire pardon, but also have procured them the means 
 of resuming their old course ; as this tribunal is 
 only severe towards those whose conduct and known 
 sentiments might influence public opinion so as to 
 diminish the autliority and the revenues of the clergy. 
 And, as Abbe Mengoni well observes, the Inqui- 
 sition was under the wise Leopold only a vain name 
 in Tuscany, " where, far from giving a sanguinary 
 monk the power to burn people, and cruelly per- 
 secute them, this tribunal is curbed." 
 
 The other injurious passages, to say no more of 
 the Pope's letter to Ricci, may be deduced from the 
 respectful, but firm reply which the Bishop of Pis- 
 toia made him, on August 6, 1781. 
 
 After having complained bitterly of being treated 
 by his Holiness as a man of bad faith, as a fanatic, 
 a liar, a calumniator, a seditious person, a usurper 
 of the rights of others, &c. Ricci, to pass from 
 abuse to reason, endeavours to prove over again what 
 he had already proved so often respecting the Do- 
 minicans, who must be regarded as at least the ac- 
 complices, if one would not farther accuse them of 
 being the seducers of the nuns. 
 
 " It is certain, most reverend Father, that the con- 
 nivance of the provincials, priors, and confessors, 
 who have Ijeen for so many years with this society, 
 and who were all informed of its evils, is inexcusable. 
 If I at once became apprehensive of such evil having 
 spread to other convents, I had very great reason 
 
138 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 for it, since from the depositions made six years ago 
 by the nuns of St. Catherine, and of which the ori- 
 ginals are in the Royal Secretary's office, it appears 
 that the same impious opinions entertained by the 
 two unfortunate nuns, were held and taught, though 
 not so completely reduced to system, in that convent, 
 by some Dominican monks, who afterwards went 
 as confessors and priors, or were some way else in- 
 terested in the government of these other convents." 
 
 He then repeats what we have already seen, viz. 
 that the confessor, on taking possession of his office, 
 used openly to choose a mistress among the nuns, and 
 that when any of them were sick, there was a fete at 
 the convent. The confessor made the nuns attend 
 him at table, and there he played cards and danced 
 with them, &c. " Need we be astonished," said he, 
 " if the disorders of so many mms, who had been all 
 tempted, and many seduced, should eventually have 
 spread through the town, or if their scandalous opi- 
 nions and actions should have been the subject of 
 conversation in public circles ?" 
 
 Ricci immediately carried the brief he had receiv- 
 ed to Leopold, who, enraged at its contents, deter- 
 mined upon replying to it himself This, however, 
 did not prevent the Bishop from sending a minute 
 reply of his own, which he submitted to the examina- 
 tion of the Prince, of his Secretary Seratti, and the 
 Archbishop Martini. It was advised by Seratti tliat 
 Leopold should let the personal quarrel of Ricci be 
 
scirio DE Ricci. 139 
 
 forgotten ; but this the Duke positively refused to do. 
 He renewed the formal promise of his protection, and 
 sent a very strong remonstrance to Rome, digested 
 by his own hand. He comi)lained in it of the Pope's 
 conduct to the Bishop, whom he determined to pro- 
 tect with all his power. He added, that he would 
 never consent that the nuns should be delivered over to 
 the ecclesiastical authority, as the Pope had ordered ; 
 and he openly threatened to provide for the refor- 
 mation of all the convents in his dominions according 
 to his own discretion, if the Pope refused to submit 
 them to the spiritual authority of their ordinary. 
 
 The Court of Rome immediately replied, that 
 the Grand-duke might follow his own discretion with 
 regard to the two nuns, and that the other convents 
 in Tuscany should in future be under the power of 
 the bishops only. This was not all. The Pope 
 found himself compelled to write to Ricci in terms 
 totally opposite to those expressed in the l^rief, and 
 to grant him all he asked. This unexpected pro- 
 ceeding of Leopold confounded both the Holy See 
 and its partizans in Tuscany, whose steps it was ne- 
 cessary incessantly to watch, in order to take away 
 the possibility of their re-union. 
 
 Ricci mentions with satisfaction, that the Spanish 
 minister at Rome sent the papers relative to this 
 affair to his court, to serve as a model for the re- 
 forms of a similar kind which they proposed to un- 
 dertake there. Nothing is more useful than thus 
 
140 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 to show that useful actions are at the same time 
 honourable, and that, in proportion as they extend 
 their beneficial effects, they increase the reputation 
 of their authors. The circumstance just mentioned 
 is also of use in showing that Rome never yields 
 but to necessity, or a determination as strong as 
 necessity ; and that feebleness and timidity find 
 justice and right of no avail in a contest with that 
 vain and selfish court. 
 
 The Pope, who had been completely overcome 
 in the affair of Ricci, took his revenge on the General 
 of the Dominicans, whom he punished by two terrible 
 reprimands for having disguised the true state of 
 things at Prato, and thus brouglit his court into 
 such a humiliating situation. He also reproached 
 him with having permitted certain bad theses to be 
 discussed in the convent of St. Mark at Florence ; and 
 in fact, so terrified the poor monk, that he left the 
 apostolic audience in such a condition of grief and 
 fright, as to be unable to find the door of the apart- 
 ment. The Grand-duke, on his part, ordered the 
 Avocat Fei before him, and gave him a similar cas- 
 tigation for his want of good service. 
 
 As soon as Ricci had obtained his authority, he 
 did every thing in his power to soften the affliction 
 which the nuns felt from his success. He gave 
 them permission to choose their own confessor out of 
 a list he laid before them of seculars and regulars. 
 They expressed the most lively desire to have, at 
 
SCinO DE RICCI. 141 
 
 least, a chaplain of their own order ; but Ricci re- 
 sisted all their solicitations. He had been too well 
 tauglit the dissolute character of these monks, to 
 remit Jiis severity, and Leopold had himself proliibited 
 any indulgence of the kind requested. So determined 
 was he, therefore, in his resistance, that he refused 
 the permission to the convent of St. Vincent, to which 
 the Archbishop of Florence had promised this favour 
 in the name of Ricci, who, he falsely said, had given 
 him his word on this subject. The affair terminated 
 in the disgrace of the Archbishop. It is from this 
 epoch Ricci dates the enmity of Martini, and as a 
 consequence, that of Seratti ; whom the i3relate had 
 no difficulty in irritating against the protege of their 
 common master. 
 
 The two affairs, that of the Sacred Heart, and that 
 of the Dominicans, united both the disciples of St. 
 Dominic and those of Loyola against Ricci. He 
 was attacked on all sides, and it was only the esteem 
 and particular protection of Leopold, that enabled 
 him to resist the intrigues and mischievous inten- 
 tions of his adversaries. Even this, however, was an- 
 other cause of enmity against him ; for it made him 
 disliked by aU the ambitious members of the Tuscan 
 court, among whom especially may be mentioned 
 Seratti, the friend both of Martini and the Nuncio. 
 Ricci knew this, but uniformly appeared to treat him 
 with the utmost confidence. 
 
 The Bishop considered it his duty to visit the 
 
142 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 entire diocese of Pistoia-Prato, and to penetrate even 
 into the least accessible, and consequently the most 
 neglected villages. These were such as lie on that 
 part of the Apennines which is called Le Mon- 
 tagne di Pistoia, or simply, Le Montagne, — a tract 
 of country in former times totally wild and barren, 
 but by the philanthropic care of Leopold, brought 
 into a state of civilization and culture. Ricci takes 
 advantage of this truly brilliant circumstance, to 
 confer the highest jiraises on his master. He has 
 given a charming description of Le Montagne, has 
 shown them to be rich in productions of every kind, 
 and in men fitted by Nature for the noblest em- 
 ployments. 
 
 Before the time of Leopold, it appears by the 
 Bishop's account, that the inhabitants of this coun- 
 try were obliged to migrate every year in a mass to 
 obtain in the works of the maremmes, (the marshy 
 borders of the sea,) that pittance to support life, 
 which their native soil denied them. The females 
 and children only remained in the villages, under 
 the protection of the cur6. But his vigilance was 
 often an insufficient guard. Education was neg- 
 lected during the long absence of the heads of fa- 
 milies, and the neglect was followed hy viciousness 
 of manners. The wives and daughters of the absent 
 villagers, deprived of their natural protectors, fell 
 victims to seduction, and then fled into another 
 country to avoid the rage of their husbands and 
 
SCIPIO DE RTCCI. 143 
 
 fathers. All these disorders ceased when the in- 
 habitants had the means afforded them of support. 
 A new route to Modena was made over Le Mon- 
 tagne ; and by the privileges and encouragement 
 given to those who built houses in the neighbour- 
 hood, the people became fixed at home, and first intro- 
 duced, by little and little, agriculture, then the arts, 
 and at length the luxuries of life. Another happy 
 result also of this was, that the Maremmans, no 
 longer having the labour of others to depend upon, 
 gathered new vigour and energy, and improved both 
 in wealth and character. Ricci, during his visit, 
 discovered that the establishment of a parish at 
 Boscolongo was necessary to the colony, and that 
 it would be productive of great good. He wrote to 
 the Grand-duke on the subject, and immediately 
 saw his wish complied with. Leopold resisted the 
 attempt of his ministers to deter him, and spent 
 a large sum in the building of a new church. The 
 usefiUness of the design was proved beyond all 
 doubt by the great number of new families that 
 soon gathered together to form a village round 
 the church. 
 
 About this time Ricci had several disputes, both 
 with Rome and the prelates, about the keeping of 
 Lent. It was his constant desire to bring the church 
 as much as possible back to its ancient discipline. 
 His attempts in this respect appear to have been 
 dictated by the same good sense, united with religious 
 
144 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 zeal, which guided him in his other reforms. He in 
 some measure succeeded, but brought on himself, as 
 in the other affairs he took in hand, a whole host of 
 opponents. Another circumstance also, which gave 
 him a great deal of uneasiness, was the dangerous 
 and fanatical conduct of the Lent preachers, whose 
 manner of exercising tlieir ministry had obtained 
 them, in many places, the title of Sacred Comedians. 
 These men carefully sought the most frequented 
 churches, the pulpits most in repute, and used every 
 means to get themselves chosen by the magistrates, 
 or by those who had the appointment. It was yet 
 worse in the country. They preached sermons 
 there, which they had, as it were, received by inhe- 
 ritance, or which were drawn from the archives of 
 their convents. From his first arrival at Pistoia, the 
 zealous Bishop opposed these missionaries, and suc- 
 ceeded in deterring the most timid from continuing 
 their mischievous practices. 
 
 During the Lent of 1783, the monk who preached 
 at the cathedral had the boldness to abuse the pro- 
 ceedings of the Government in no very measured 
 terms. Ricci admonished him to refrain from all such 
 expressions in future. The missionary promised to 
 obey the injunction ; but he almost immediately broke 
 his word. The Bishop believed himself called upon 
 to put a stop to this scandal. The preacher was 
 strongly reprimanded. He, on the other hand, threat- 
 ened to leave the city, which he knew v\ ould give 
 
SCIPIO DE RICCI. 145 
 
 rise to considerable disturbance ; but at tbe moment 
 measures were about to be taken against liim, be was 
 seized witb a panic, submitted liimself, and gave a 
 projuise of never again committing the same error. 
 About this time, the Archbishop Martini, being op- 
 posed in all his conduct to Ricci, imposed upon the 
 regulars in his diocese who had no cure of souls, the 
 duty of catechising in the churches on Sundays and 
 feast-days. This order was given, says Ricci, to asto- 
 nish all those who knew the just complaints which 
 had been made at the Council of Trent, against the 
 teaching of monks. The Secretary for the jurisdic- 
 tion of the Prince cited the example of the Flo- 
 rentine prelate with much approbation to the other 
 bishops, and Ricci saw himself obliged to appeal to 
 Leopold. Having received renewed promises of pro- 
 tection, he issued a decree, forbidding any regular's 
 preaching in his diocese, before his doctrine and his 
 principles had undergone an examination. The result 
 was, that the monks no longer presented themselves 
 as preachers ; and the greater part of those already 
 engaged, retired. He even did more than this ; he 
 obliged the regulars before preaching, even in their 
 own churches, to go and receive the benediction of the 
 cures. This raised more enemies against him than 
 all he had before done. 
 
 In supplying the void which the want of sermons 
 had left, he ordered the cures and their assistants to 
 give expositions of the sacrament. Another means 
 
 VOL. I. L 
 
146 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 employed for the instruction of the people, was the 
 pubhcation of a good catechism. Ricci chose from 
 among all the Jansenist catechisms that which seemed 
 the best adapted for his purpose : those of Colbert and 
 of Mesenguy, otherwise so excellent, were rejected, for 
 fear of giving unnecessary offence to the Court of 
 Rome, from which it was necessary to keep all sus- 
 picion of false doctrine. He preferred the catechism 
 of Gourlin, which had received the approval of the 
 Inquisition, and had been recommended by Ippo- 
 liti, his predecessor. Ricci prepared the publication 
 by a pastoral letter, in which he attacks the various 
 errors which had crept into the Church by depart- 
 ing from the study of the Scriptures. 
 
 Rome could scarcely retain her indignation when 
 Leopold suppressed the taxes, all of which Tuscany 
 had hitherto scrupulously paid into her treasury. 
 She, however, entirely lost her patience at the abo- 
 lition of the tribunal of the Inquisition. This tri- 
 bunal had been always held by the Frhres Mineurs 
 Cc»;^ve?2^we/5, according to Ricci; and he cites Boccaccio 
 to prove it. The imprudence of an Inquisitor, (a 
 monk,) contributed to deprive it of its power under 
 the government of the House of Lorraine. Thomas 
 Crudeli, a man of letters, at that time a prisoner in 
 the dungeons of the Holy Office, found means to 
 inform his friends of his situation, and to assure 
 them that, if he was not speedily freed, the bad 
 treatment which he received, acting upon a delicate 
 
SCIPIO DE lllCCI. 147 
 
 and feeble frame, would inevitahly prove fatal to him. 
 The Count de Richecourt, the head of the Regency, 
 was informed, by those who had the boldness to in- 
 terest themselves in the affair, of all that had occurred. 
 He instantly delivered Crudeli from these wretches, 
 and demanded of the Court of Vienna the abolition 
 of the odious Inquisition. A long negotiation was 
 entered into with Rome. The Tuscan Government, 
 out of respect for Pope Benedict the Fourteenth, 
 would not interfere, and was contented with modifying 
 the power of the Holy Office. Pius the Sixth, how- 
 ever, would yield nothing, and his resentment against 
 Joseph the Second and Leopold became so violent, 
 that he suffered the most inflammatory pamphlets to 
 be jDublished about them. But his anger was chiefly 
 directed against Ricci, who, it was believed, had in- 
 stigated the Duke to all these things. Even the 
 ministers of Leopold believed it ; but, as the Bishop 
 says, the Duke was too enlightened to brook such a 
 submission, and was not willing to share the credit 
 of his measures with any one. 
 
 The spring of the year 1782 was so excessively 
 rainy, that the crops were near being all destroyed, 
 and every means which superstition could invent 
 were employed to remove the threatened calamity. 
 Ricci opposed these superstitious practices, and took 
 occasion to give many salutary instructions on the 
 subject of image-worship,, many of the greatest errors 
 of which he endeavoured to remove. A long con- 
 
 L 21 
 
148 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 test with the monks was the consequence. At 
 first it was only a war of words, but his adversaries 
 had at last recourse to the lowest kind of abuse. 
 The priests who were supposed to be attached to 
 Ricci, were abused in the public streets, and insulted 
 with popular songs containing every species of in- 
 vective. Out of Tuscany, the whole order of the 
 Franciscans took part in the dispute, till at last even 
 the friends of the Bishop began to suspect that his 
 procedure was, to a certain extent, imprudent, and 
 calculated to favour the sect of the Phantasiasts. 
 Ricci several times replied to these remarks ; and at 
 last reduced his adversaries to silence by an article 
 in the Annales Eccl6siastiques, bearing the date of 
 July 4, 1783. 
 
 About this time the Grand-duke signified his ap- 
 proval of Ricci's plan for the establishment of an 
 Ecclesiastical Academy at Pistoia ; and that lie might 
 have a fit situation for it, gave him the convent of 
 the Oliv^tains, which he was on the point of sup- 
 pressing. Armed with this decree, the Bishop, for 
 fear of fraud, unexpectedly signified it to the monks 
 when they were assembled for dinner in the refec- 
 tory. He at the same time took possession of the 
 convent, and of tlie country-houses which belonged 
 to the monks. He put his seal upon all the papers, 
 had an inventory made of the different effects, 
 and of the furniture ; and he managed to effect all 
 this without causing any noise or disturbance. The 
 
SCIPIO DE RICCI. 149 
 
 nobles of Pistoia could not repress their chagrin at 
 this event, which deprived them of a retreat where 
 they might place those of their children that inter- 
 fered with their ambitious projects, a plan, moreover, 
 that gave some eclat to their neighbourhood, and fur- 
 nished them with the means of dissipating, either by 
 gaming or conversation, their languor and sloth. 
 
 Some proofs exist of the kind of amusements fol- 
 lowed by these devout nobles. The Abbe's tables du 
 quartier were found covered with the reckonings of 
 a game, which showed the manner of passing their 
 evenings. At another place cards were discovered ; 
 and the library of the convent, which consisted of 
 only about a hundred volumes, was in the most mi- 
 serable state of filth and confusion. The Scriptures, 
 divided into several little volumes, were not even 
 complete. Sucli was the state of the library, that 
 there was nothing in it of any value but some edi- 
 tions of the year 1400 ; the rest consisted of the 
 old casuists, and other such authors, so that Leo- 
 pold said he would not give five shillings for the 
 whole. Such was the state of this establislnnent as 
 respected its interior ; but the building itself had 
 been just repaired, and Ricci, overjoyed at being 
 enabled by the acquisition of it to open his academy, 
 solemnly dedicated it to St. Leopold. His first object 
 after obtaining this situation, was to find a good the- 
 ological professor ; and not hoping to obtain one in 
 Tuscany, he applied to tlic celebrated Tamberini, 
 
150 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 head of the new theological school at Pavia, who 
 sent him Doctor Jean-Baptiste Ganzi, of the 
 same school, on whose principles he might rely. In 
 all his subsequent measures he did nothing with- 
 out consulting his friends, — the Jansenists of France 
 and Holland. The success of the institution an- 
 swered his labour ; and when at his own fall the 
 institution also fell, he expressed the deepest regret 
 at the event, and at the barbarous conduct of those 
 by whom it was occasioned. 
 
 But before this catastrophe, Ricci had to endure 
 many persecutions and vexations. He saw himself 
 on all sides surrounded with enemies, among whom 
 was Leopold's minister. He was accused of having 
 aided the Government, in a most scandalous manner, 
 in the destruction of the Olivetains ; and it was endea- 
 voured to lessen the patrimony of the suppressed 
 convent by so many charges, that it became of no 
 value for the purpose for which he wanted it. The 
 Bishop obtained from Leopold much assistance in 
 these affairs, but his success did not answer the 
 hopes he had a right to cherish. 
 
 Ricci was extremely desirous of establishing moral 
 conferences in his diocese, not merely formal, as they 
 had hitherto been, but such as were likely to pro- 
 duce real practical good. This was at the epoch 
 when Leopold had reduced the regulars within the 
 jurisdiction of their bishops. Ricci took advantage 
 of it to make them assist the seculars in the monthly 
 
SCIPIO DE RICCI. 151 
 
 conferences ; and he succeeded beyond his expecta- 
 tion. The order he had received to inspect the 
 studies of the regulars induced him to visit tlie 
 convent of the i\ I incurs Obscrvcuitins at Giacclierino, 
 near Pistoia, in order to examine the Ubrary. The 
 collection of books in this convent was valuable and 
 well chosen ; but such, says Ricci, was the sloth and 
 bad management of the monks, that it was left in a 
 state which rendered it perfectly useless to the pu- 
 pils. The room where the books were kept was 
 generally the least known and frequented in the 
 house. There were even some superiors of convents 
 who could not say where it was, and who followed 
 Ricci to discover in what part of the convent the 
 books were to be found. At Giaccherino, the library 
 was in a little room devoted to the reception of all 
 old and useless papers. The cobwebs which hung 
 from the ceiling covered the unfortunate visitor every 
 step he set, and which he had been prepared to expect? 
 from the difficulty experienced by the monks in find- 
 ing the key of the room. A promise, however, was 
 given of amendment, and the Bishop went away sa- 
 tisfied. A similar circumstance took place at the 
 convent of the Paolotti at Pistoia ; from which the 
 Provincial, thinking that books were a useless kind of 
 furniture, had sent all it possessed to the convent of 
 Jthe same order at Florence, to obtain the thanks of 
 the monks in the capital. It will not cause surprise, 
 after hearing this, to find that the regulars w,e\Q not 
 
152 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 much devoted to study ; so far, indeed, was this from 
 being the case, that they gave themselves up to every 
 kind of dissipation, and when some of them were 
 not so disposed, they were even prohibited by the 
 superiors from using books purchased with their own 
 money. 
 
 Ricci examined some of the students at Giacche- 
 rino, to discover the state of religious knowledge 
 among them, and found them in a state of deplora- 
 ble ignorance. Questions the most useless were 
 discussed in the most barbarous style of scholastic 
 reasoning, while the great doctrines of religion were 
 treated in a manner so ridiculous, that even Molina 
 himself professed himself offended. The infallibility 
 of the Pope, his absolute temporal power over prin- 
 ces, and all the most foolish doctrines of the Court 
 of Rome, were stoutly defended by them, and made 
 to support the most preposterous opinions. 
 
 The Franciscans, says Ricci again, are for the 
 most part, in the present day, without the least learn- 
 ing, even without the jmnciples of grammar. Latin is 
 almost entirely unknown among them, and when tried, 
 they were unable to translate the decisions of the 
 Council of Trent, the Roman Catechism, or the his- 
 torical books of the Scriptures. They were obliged 
 to employ a dictionary to construe their commonest 
 lessons; and the cleverest among them never thought 
 of looking into the subjects which they were thought 
 capable of teaching, till they were made doctors, or 
 
SCIPIO DE lilCCI. 153 
 
 professors of theology. Others less clever, were 
 made preachers or confessors ; in which capacities 
 they only consulted some old and well-known casu- 
 ist, or preached the sermons they had found in the 
 convent. Ricci employed every means in his power 
 to remedy these abuses, but in vain ; and he saw 
 his best and most useful projects either eluded by 
 art, or stopped by the power of the monks, or the bad 
 conduct of Leopold's ministers. 
 
 The Bishop had long found, that to commence an 
 attack on the monks is to bid farewell for ever to 
 all peace and tranquillity. The first antagonist he 
 had to meet, in his endeavour to do away with the 
 prerogatives of the monks in his diocese, was the 
 monk Lampredi, to whom very imprudently had 
 been given the power of visiting the convent of his 
 order, in quality of Provincial. Ricci opposed him- 
 self to this, and he succeeded in preventing Lam- 
 predi from making his fortune, which a visitor on such 
 an occasion is almost sure of doing. The same man 
 wished, on some foolish pretence, to remove the col- 
 lege of Giaccherino elsewhere ; but the Bishop pre- 
 vented any such change taking place, saying, that 
 such a thing could not be done without an express 
 order from the Prince. Every victory which Ricci 
 thus obtained, furnished him with a reason for wri- 
 ting to Leopold, whom he assured of the possibility 
 of reforming the whole monkish system, which was 
 principally to be done by taking away all the pri- 
 
154 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 vileges of the particular monastic dignities, and by- 
 making every convent a separate isolated establish- 
 ment ; thus doing away with that hnperium in im- 
 perio, to which the present system gives rise. 
 
 The Bishop was diligent, notwithstanding all op- 
 position, in scattering abroad the most useful books. 
 One of these was the Opusculum in which the Lieute- 
 nant-governor of Pistoia pretended that the opinions 
 of Calvin and Zuinglius were supported. The ques- 
 tion was judged by the theologians of Florence ; and 
 being decided in the negative, the Lieutenant only 
 got a sharp rebuke from Leopold for his officious 
 zeal. Ricci was next charged with the superinten- 
 dence of three congregations of priests at Pistoia ; 
 and either to reform or suppress them, as he saw fit. 
 He employed the gentlest means to bring these eccle- 
 siastics to reason, but in vain ; and he was then 
 obliged to have recourse to compulsion. He also at 
 this time reformed an abuse which had been long ex- 
 isting. The prebendaries of the cathedral of Pistoia 
 enjoyed a very rich revenue without performing any 
 service, which they got done for them by chaplains, 
 to whom they paid a very small stipend, and who 
 were, consequently, generally the most ignorant of 
 the clergy. 
 
 All this took place in the year 1782. The follow- 
 ing year, Ricci's enemies commenced their attacks 
 with renewed violence. Placards were put upon 
 the cathedral gate with the inscription " Orate pro 
 
SCIPIO DE RICCI. 155 
 
 episcopo nostro heterodoxo." He was accused of he- 
 resy, and anonymous letters were sent to him full 
 of menaces and abuse. Nor were these threats alto- 
 gether without meaning ; for his domestics had Ijeen 
 bribed to admit people into his study, and he was 
 assured that, on his going to his seat in the country, 
 a conspiracy had been formed to take away his life, 
 which design an assassin had offered to put in execu- 
 tion for five hundred crowns. So many dangers alie- 
 nated from him his friends and relations. The minis- 
 ters of the Grand-duke, and even his colleagues, took 
 advantage of it to oppose his designs, and to raise 
 against him new enemies at court. Rome also en- 
 tered into the conspiracy, and condemned his Cate- 
 chism ; but the Bishop, taking advantage of the ap- 
 probation which the Inquisition had expressed re- 
 specting that of Venice, retained his Catechism in 
 use, without taking notice of the prohibition. 
 
 Leopold wished to render his reform general, and 
 everywhere sent the same instructions and the same 
 orders, but he was not always seconded and obeyed. 
 About this time he addressed a circular to all the 
 bishops of his states, sending them at the same time 
 the pastoral letter of the Archbishop of Saltzburg, 
 of the 29th June, 1782. Leopold intended, says 
 Ricci, by means of this paper, to lead the faithful 
 committed to his care gradually to remove from the 
 forms of worship all the superstitious observances 
 that the ignorance of the people, or the clergy, or 
 
156 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 the ambitious and avaricious spirit of the latter, had 
 mingled with them : and if he succeeded, (he con- 
 tinues) he hoped to overcome the indifference of rea- 
 soners, and the incredulity of the learned towards re- 
 ligion, the natural results of the gross debasement 
 of the pof)ular worship. 
 
 This was equally the object of Bishop Ricci, who, 
 as soon as he received from the Grand-duke the 
 pastoral letter of the German Archbishop, hastened 
 to follow up the views of the Prince his protector. 
 He reprinted the letter and sent a copy to each of 
 the clergy, whom he begged to inform him of what 
 was wanting to be done in his diocese, in order that 
 God might there be worshipped " in spirit and in 
 truth." The cures replied immediately ; and it was 
 on their answers that Ricci founded the reforms 
 he introduced into his diocese, and organized those 
 which he afterwards reduced into a system, and which 
 he fixed definitively on occasion of his famous synod. 
 
 He limited himself, for the present, to " restrict- 
 ing the functions of the priests to the explanation of 
 the Gospel during high mass, to the Catechism before 
 and after vespers, and to benediction at the end of 
 the ceremony. He moreover ordered that the lita- 
 nies should be sung in the vulgar tongue, and that 
 not more than fourteen candles sliould be lighted." 
 The people, thus deprived of the splendours of the 
 ceremony, murmured more loudly tlian ever. Be- 
 sides this, the Bishop, in order to force the faithful 
 
SCIPIO DE RICCI. 157 
 
 to frequent thcii' parishes, ordered the private cha- 
 pels to be slnit on Sundays and holidays, and forbade 
 certain splendid ceremonies to be performed wliich 
 attracted the people from their labour, and from at- 
 tending their parochial churches. 
 
 The Grand-duke, seeing that all went according to 
 his wishes in the dioceses of Pistoia and Prato, load- 
 ed them with his favours. He granted to the semi- 
 nary of Prato the convent of the RecoUets, and 
 gratified the new seminary of Pistoia with the sup- 
 pressed convent of St. Claire. He gave the Domini- 
 can convent to the Dominican nuns, for the purpose 
 of being employed as a school, under the protection 
 of the Government. He went to inspect the im- 
 provements made by Ricci in his diocese, and was 
 delighted to see that he had suppressed the number 
 of altars, allowing only one in each church. He en- 
 couraged me (says Ricci) to make the same reforms 
 in the other churches of my diocese. The project, 
 however, was interrupted. 
 
 The institution for the women styled Ahhandonate 
 was now removed to the convent which the Domi- 
 nican nuns had quitted. Ricci, hoping in time to 
 form useful women and good mothers of families, 
 obtained permission of the Prince to restore this in- 
 stitution to its original simplicity. The women were 
 now seen publicly at church on Sundays and other 
 holidays. Opportunities were afforded them to 
 marry, and to vend silk handkerchiefs, for the manu- 
 
158 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 facture of which they were famous. The noble go- 
 vernors of the hospital thought these reforms too 
 radical, and addressed themselves to the Grand- 
 duke ; but the latter ratified all Ricci had done. 
 
 Unfortunately, all the measures which had been 
 taken to produce a reform by the suppression of the 
 cures of the old congregations, were eluded, or falsely 
 interpreted, in Tuscany, where their execution was 
 committed to persons who brought them into con- 
 tempt. Rome forgot not to assist in this. Defama- 
 tory libels were everywhere circulated against the 
 Grand-duke and the Emi^eror, and sedition was 
 preached from a variety of pulpits. Leopold was ac- 
 cused of changing, like Henry the Eighth of England, 
 the ancient faith ; and the doctrine of Ricci was re- 
 presented as full of heresy. None of the benefits 
 produced by the new law were acknowledged by 
 these blind bigots ; and it was only fear which 
 prevented their opposing its execution, when Leo- 
 pold showed himself decidedly resolved to main- 
 tain it. When a nation, says Ricci, has blindly 
 submitted for ages to the domination of priests and 
 nobles, these latter do not neglect to profit by their 
 respective situations. Although naturally adverse to 
 each other, they league together to attack those who 
 put their privileges in danger, and who endeavour 
 to break the spell by which the people are bound. 
 Such was precisely the situation of things at Pistoia, 
 
SCIPIO DE TvICCI. 159 
 
 where the ancient respect for the nobles had assisted 
 in riveting the fetters of superstition. The mea- 
 sures which Leopold took to humble these enemies 
 of moral and civil reform are described at full in an 
 Appendix to Ricci's Memoirs, and will form the sub- 
 ject of the following chapter. 
 
160 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 ^Measures taken by Leopold to establish his ]\Iunicipal System 
 
 and Reforms. 
 
 One of the most pernicious prejudices entertained 
 by mankind is that which induces them to prefer a 
 person destitute of any other recommendation than 
 that of high birth, to a man of merit and probity, 
 who can boast of no higher origin than Socrates or 
 Marcus Aurelius. This prejudice, hallowed by ages 
 of ignorance and selfishness, acted like a species of 
 lingering and enfeebling disease, which, until the end 
 of the last century, preyed on the very vitals of so- 
 ciety, and kept it in a continual state of weakness 
 and torpor. The man who could lay claim to noble 
 blood, had it in his power to do every thing, without 
 either talent or virtue ; while the possession of every 
 talent and of every accomplishment seemed wholly 
 useless to him who had no such recommendations. 
 The former, with very few exceptions, was, in a 
 manner, predestined to commit acts of injustice ; 
 
SCiriO DE RICCI. I6l 
 
 the latter, on the contrary, to become his victim. 
 The one only required the sentiment of honour in 
 order to detest his fate, as much as the other had 
 reason to deplore it. 
 
 Praise, — everlasting praise is due to the two 
 brothers, Joseph the Second and Leopold, who al- 
 though sovereigns, and absolute sovereigns, had the 
 courage to attack the privileges and long-established 
 rights of the nobility, to an extent unknown in 
 foi'mer periods, and from which it can never recover. 
 They prepared the way for the labours of that im- 
 mortal National Assembly of France, which vindi- 
 cated so nobly the imprescriptible and imperishable 
 rights of man and of society. 
 
 Joseph the Second laid it down as a maxim, that 
 knowledge and virtue, talents and probity, were the 
 only qualities necessary for serving both him and 
 the state ; and under his reign merit was the only 
 passport to office, to honour, and to dignity. Leo- 
 pold divided his subjects into two classes — the honest 
 and the dishonest, the enlightened and the ignorant. 
 He found his greatest happiness to consist in the 
 honour of governing a free people ; and the Grand- 
 duke, following the same excellent example, had no 
 sooner come to the throne, than all his endeavours 
 were directed to render the Tuscans worthy of the 
 liberty which he intended to confer upon them. 
 
 The following document, which is now for the 
 first time published, belongs more particiUarly to the 
 
 VOL. I. M 
 
162 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 history of Leopold, than to that of the Ecclesiastical 
 reforms which took place during his reign ; but that 
 history may not very soon make its appearance, and 
 it is iinj)ortant to make the world acquainted with 
 the constitution which a wise and virtuous Prince 
 was desirous of conferring on his people, nearly half 
 a century ago. His subjects were not sufficiently 
 advanced in civilization to demand or even to desire 
 such a boon ; but the whole reign of Leopold was, 
 with respect to them, a sort of elementary education, 
 intended to prepare them for receiving it at his 
 hands with gratitude, appreciating it with enthu- 
 siasm, and defending it with courage and firmness. 
 
 The constitution planned by Leopold is not altoge- 
 ther perfect. We give it, however, as a monument 
 which will entitle its author to rank high among 
 those princes, unfortunately but too seldom found, 
 whose greatest ambition is the good of their fellow 
 creatures. It is a severe but just satire on the con- 
 duct of those who prefer to that lofty character, the 
 preservation of unjust privileges and insulting pre- 
 rogatives, which are constantly gliding away from 
 their grasp ; and also on the conduct of that class, 
 so cruelly selfish, which supports them. Leopold 
 took as much trouble and pains to enlighten his sub- 
 jects and to inspire them with just sentiments of 
 their importance, and correct ideas of their rights, 
 as other princes have taken to brutalize theirs by 
 eveiy means with which ignorance, superstition, fa- 
 
scTPio i)E incci. l6.'J 
 
 naticism, jierversion of mind, corruption of heart, 
 and despotism combined, could supply them. 
 
 "SVe shall now lay before the reader this document, 
 word for word, such as it exists among those Tuscans 
 who venerate the memory of that truly great man, 
 whose ambition rose no higher tlian that of being 
 the first magistrate of his people. It was reduced 
 into form by Senator Francis-Maria Gianni, in 1805, 
 at Genoa, whither he had retired after the deplorable 
 events of 1799. Gianni served Tuscany under the 
 reign of Leopold with fidelity, and was one of his 
 most zealous ministers, which did not, however, 
 prevent him from accepting, under the reign of de- 
 mocracy which interrupted that of Ferdinand, the 
 office of Minister of the Finances. 
 
 " Memoiu on the Constitution planned by the 
 Grand-duke Leopold ; intended to illustrate 
 the history of that Prince's reign in Tuscany."* 
 
 " A constitution, in order to be properly adapted 
 to the government of men, must not be an arbitrary 
 act proceeding from the sole will of the reformers of 
 the world ; its provisions must be founded on the 
 physical and natural qualities of the nation for which 
 it is intended, and must be adapted to its character, 
 — that is to say, to that portion of character which is 
 common to the different classes of which it is com- 
 
 * " Memorie suUa Constituzione di Governo immaginata dal 
 Gran-duca Leopoldo, da servire all' Istoria del suo regno in 
 Toscana." 
 
 M 2 
 
164 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 posed ; otherwise the result will inevitably be a mon- 
 strous fallacy, abounding in ideas connected by no 
 common principle, and, instead of being productive 
 of the benefits intended to be conferred, become 
 the unavoidable source of the greatest evils. 
 
 " The fundamental laws of a powerful monarchy, 
 including within its dominions people of different 
 dispositions and of different languages, provinces 
 varying in climate and dissimilar in condition, must 
 necessarily be few, and general in their principles, 
 in order to accomplish their proper end — the good 
 of the whole. 
 
 " The Gospel of Jesus Christ is the only constitu- 
 tion applicable to aU men and adapted to all cli- 
 mates : and, if it were properly observed, would be 
 sufficient to insure to mankind the greatest possible 
 happiness, compatible with their nature and condi- 
 tion, without the interference either of kings or of 
 legislators. 
 
 " In the course of fourteen years* (since 1791) we 
 have seen constitutions for the government of men 
 springing up in quick succession, one after another, 
 and all of them republican in principle and in form. 
 T he parts of which they were composed, had in ge- 
 neral been combined with great subtilty by those 
 philosophers, politicians, and warriors, who planned 
 them ; but tliey were also not unfrequcntly the re- 
 sult of those violent passions with which both the 
 * This Memoir was written in 1805. 
 
SCIPIO DE RICCI. 165 
 
 One and the otlicr were inflamed. A mania, in fact, 
 for inventing new constitutions (if the expression 
 may be allowed), frequently of a very ideal and ima- 
 ginary nature, seized every class of society, and gave 
 birth to proposals for forms of government not only 
 by those who could think, but by tlie still greater 
 number, who could not think at all. 
 
 " The drift of politicians is not now, as it then 
 was, to produce new forms of republican government, 
 or to perfect those already published. They think 
 they have discovered the greatest possible perfection 
 of which a civil and political body is capable, in a 
 monarcliical form of government, tempered by a fun- 
 damental law or contract between the throne and 
 the people, rendering the suffrages of the people ne- 
 cessary for the election of their representatives, and 
 the votes of the latter for the enactment of laws— 
 the king having pledged himself solemnly to observe 
 the constitutional charter, and to execute with im- 
 partiality the laws which emanate from the legisla- 
 tive body. 
 
 " The ideas of a republic,— of an absolute or limited 
 monarchy, are not new ; but they did not become 
 the subject of philosophical discussion among all 
 ranks and classes of society, until the French Revo- 
 lution burst forth upon the world, and revived in the 
 hearts of men those passions which it was thought 
 had been completely extinguished by long established 
 habits of indifference and carelessness in regard to 
 
166 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 the management of public affairs, but which, in fact, 
 had only lain smouldering for a while, in order to 
 appear with greater vigour and energy. 
 
 " Previously to this memorable epoch in the history 
 of Europe, the study of the science of government 
 was confined to a very few philosophers, who suc- 
 ceeded occasionally in procuring some share of admi- 
 ration for their labours, and not un frequently also 
 in attracting considerable severity of criticism. The 
 authors of the latter were, generally, the instruments 
 of those persecutions, which, where the government 
 has been such as to have reason to dread the light of 
 philosophy and truth, have at all times been excited 
 against the promulgators of new systems. 
 
 " There existed, however, at this time, a Prince, 
 who, instead of harbouring similar fears, listened 
 willingly to the voice of humanity, cherished what 
 was really good and useful in modern philosophy, 
 and even went so far as to discover the vices and the 
 defects of the modes of government in existence, by 
 putting himself, ideally, in the situation of those who 
 were governed. In this way, he became acquainted 
 with their real sentiments, and learned what other 
 sovereigns never know, or rather what they have no 
 desire to be informed of. 
 
 " This rare example was furnished by Leopold, 
 Grand-duke of Tuscany, who in the year 1799, after 
 much study, incjuiry, and examination as to what 
 was best adapted for his country, came to the noble 
 
sciPio DE incci. 167 
 
 resolution of conferring upon it a constitutional 
 charter, having for its principle a monarchy limited 
 and tempered Ijy the intervention of national repre- 
 sentation. 
 
 " It would be tedious, at this day, to peruse the text 
 of a constitution destitute of all those ornaments and 
 embellishments with which more recent plans have 
 been recommended to public attention ; and I shall 
 therefore, only give a brief account of it, for the sa- 
 tisfaction of those few friends of Leopold, v/ho knew 
 him well, and esteemed him highly, more especially 
 on account of his legislative measures and operations. 
 His constitution was frequently the subject of our dis- 
 cussions, whilst it was drawing up, and is worthy of 
 particidar notice in the history of the government of 
 that great Piince, who is almost v\ ithout an equal. 
 Through the bad fortune of his successors, and the 
 evil genius of Tuscany, it was neither promulgated, 
 nor carried into effect ; although it had received the 
 finishing touch, and been fully approved at the ac- 
 cession of Ferdinand the Third to the throne. 
 
 "Let us recollect, in the first place, that the subjects 
 to be dealt with were, on the one hand, a country 
 small in extent, and valuable in itself, but incapable 
 of holding any high rank among other European 
 states, and, on the other, a Prince who aspired to 
 no higher glory than that of rendering his people 
 happy, and participating in that happiness ; — and in 
 the second, that for a long time every care had been 
 
168 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 taken to arrange and dispose matters in such a way 
 as to render the country and the people fit for the 
 new form of government which had been prepared 
 for them. 
 
 " To inspire the Tuscans with sentiments of true 
 patriotism, and make them acquainted with the im- 
 portance of co-operating in the promotion of the 
 pubHc welfare by means of deliberation and votes, 
 in such a way as that the interests of the throne and 
 of the people should only form one common interest, 
 was no easy matter, considering that ages had been 
 passed in habits altogether of an opposite character, 
 and devoted to inquiries the principal tendency of 
 which was to take away all desire of attending to 
 public affairs. 
 
 " To attain this end, it became necessary to induce 
 private interests to co-operate in the labours de- 
 manded by the public, and to bring the Tuscans 
 acquainted with the mode of expressing their will 
 by votes. With this view, communities were orga- 
 nized, and fixed rules for their administration laid 
 down : the execution of which was intrusted to 
 magistrates who were all interested in the good 
 order and management of the communities which 
 they represented, and were wholly independent of 
 control in regard to objects of a local and com- 
 mercial interest, as i)ointed out in the law of settle- 
 ment. These magistracies were intended to become 
 also a kind of primary assemblies, in the discharge 
 
SCIPIO DE RTCCI. 169 
 
 of functions requiring the co-operation of the Na- 
 tional Assembly ; but very few of the Tuscans, 
 perhaps only three^ saw that this work was only the 
 first stone of an edifice of more vast dimensions ; 
 and even they saw not the extent of the super- 
 structure of which it formed the base. 
 
 " The nation, generally speaking, was far from being 
 sufficiently enlightened for taking any effective part 
 in matters which required a knowledge of the pub- 
 lic and general affairs of the state, because every 
 habit arising from education, and every traditional 
 principle whicli they had imbibed, tended to keep 
 them at a distance from all knowledge of the affau's 
 of their country, and to prevent them from directing 
 their attention to the progress and tendency of the 
 measures of its Government. 
 
 " Such was the plan acted upon by the ministry, 
 which was desirous of extending the despotic au- 
 thority of the sovereign, in order to place it in the 
 hands of its own tools, who, by means of the general 
 ignorance which everywhere abounded, and the 
 mysterious secrecy with which they carried on their 
 operations, continued to exercise it with vigour over 
 both the Prince and the people. For this inveterate 
 demoralization and inactivity on the part of the Tus- 
 cans, no remedy could have been devised, if the 
 Grand-duke had not gradually prepared them by 
 means of elementary instruction, and if he h?id not 
 himself established certain fundamental and general 
 
170 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 principles of utility and justice. These gave birth, 
 in a practical manner, to opinions and maxims, not 
 only harmonizing, but extremely fit to serve them as 
 guides for the discharge of their public duty, when 
 the jiroper season should arrive for emancipating 
 them from the degraded state in which they had so 
 long been held. 
 
 " In this point of view, the first step taken in 
 Tuscany toward the establishment of civil liberty, 
 was particularly remarkable, as emancipating from 
 all shackles every species of lawful industry ; and as 
 declaring, in future, the power to dispose, without 
 reserve, of all private property. To say more on 
 the subject would be useless. This first reform of 
 Leopold rendered his name immortal in the history 
 of the age — became the origin and the foundation 
 of the prosperity of his states, and disposed his sub- 
 jects to esteem so beneficent a government, and to 
 love a country which had been rendered so happy. 
 
 " Equality in the eye of the law was perpetually 
 established by means of those reforms which depriv- 
 ed the courts of their privileges, and suppressed 
 those exemptions and prerogatives which had been 
 so numerous as to excite doubts whether justice was 
 the same for all, or different for different individuals 
 and ranks of the community. 
 
 " Of feudal jurisdiction, the name and the arms 
 alone remained, while private jurisdictions and seig- 
 norial rights, originally purchased by those in whose 
 
SCIPIO DE RICCI. 171 
 
 possession tliey were, also disajipeared. The perso- 
 nal titles were alone left untouched, to satisfy the 
 vanity of those who were delighted with their sound, 
 and who, on that account, paid willingly as in for- 
 mer times, the small tribute annually levied from the 
 time of investiture, as a sign of homage. It may 
 therefore be said with perfect truth, that no citizen 
 of Tuscany any longer groaned under the feudal 
 yoke. 
 
 " A general law had already al)olished throughout 
 the whole of the Grand-duchy fidei-commissions 
 and substitutions by will ; preserving, however, all 
 their rights to those who had been already nominat- 
 ed, or who were living on the day of the publica- 
 tion of the law, as well as to the offspring of mar- 
 riages already contracted : so that before their abolition 
 was thought of elsewhere, it had been accomplished 
 in Tuscany, (where the privilege had belonged to 
 the nobility,) and the foundations of substantial jus- 
 tice established. 
 
 " Under the government of Ferdinand the Third, 
 this law of Leopold was violated, and its provisions 
 revoked in favour of those who had claims upon the 
 state ; the minister at that period being so totally 
 ignorant and incapable as not to be able to discover 
 any other means of extorting money to replenish a 
 treasury which had been reduced to the lowest ebb. 
 
 " The practice of granting certain offices in the 
 magistracy, on the piinciple of hereditary right, to 
 
172 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 citizens of Florence, was abolished by different re- 
 forms. ^\^ith this view the magistracies were, in the 
 first place, rendered elective, (the Grand-duke having 
 the right of nomination,) and afterwards conferred 
 by a special jury, when the candidate had furnished 
 sufficient proofs of his capability to fill the office, by 
 exhibiting his degrees of doctor, notary, practice in 
 the courts, and respectability of character. 
 
 " All corporations of trades, so contrary to the li- 
 berty which every individual ought to enjoy, with all 
 their tribunals, statutes, and restrictions, were also 
 abolished, and industry left to exercise itself with 
 that perfect freedom which is most conducive to its 
 extension and prosperity. 
 
 " The law in regard to mort-main was not the work 
 of Leopold, but he had the merit of putting an end 
 to those interminable disputes and doubts which the 
 art of chicanery had originated as to its application, 
 and by which it had been rendered almost void. 
 Leopold made all new acquisitions of property, and 
 all alienations of property already acquired depen- 
 dent on his consent and permission, provided either 
 the buyer or the seller were holders in raort-main. 
 
 " To Leopold also we are indebted for rendering 
 the property of the clergy liable to the same taxes as 
 that of the laity : before his time they were almost 
 exempted, or at least enjoyed many privileges. 
 
 " It was also determined to suppress the order of 
 St. Stephen, and to apply its immense patrimony to 
 
SCIPIO DE RICCI. 17'i 
 
 the payment of the officers of the troop, reserving, 
 howevei', the cross of honour as a reward for officers 
 and soldiers who had served for a long period. The 
 plan of such reform was drawn up, and there resulted 
 from it a considerable saving to tlie treasury. 
 
 " In order to dispose the minds of the no- 
 bility to a suppression so directly contrary to their 
 prejudices, their interests, their likings, and their 
 vanity, Leopold began l)y admitting several persons 
 into the order, without any strict examination of 
 their titles of nobility, and by giving commanderies, 
 in place of pensions and other pecuniary gratifica- 
 tions, to those who had served the state for a long 
 period ; but, unfortunately, there was not sufficient 
 time to execute the whole of this plan. 
 
 " The barbarous law which permits personal actions 
 and imprisonment in the case of civil debtors had 
 been annulled ; but with certain limitations in re- 
 gard to the merchants of Leghorn, who had raised a 
 great clamour on the subject, lest they also should 
 be deprived of that inhuman privilege. In this op- 
 position they were powerfully aided by the ministry, 
 always secretly opposed to the most glorious and use- 
 ful of the projected reforms of Leopold, who wished 
 to render the throne and the nation independent of 
 ministerial influence ; but, by one of those infatua- 
 tions by which the best princes are sometimes blinded, 
 Leopold himself occasionally yielded to this despo- 
 tism. 
 
174 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 " It would not be very easy to divine, in these days, 
 under what pretence of pubhc good the re-establish- 
 raent of the law for the imprisonment of debtors, in 
 the time of Ferdinand the Third, was accomplished ; 
 and I shall therefore say nothing on the subject. 
 
 " The organization of the provincial tribunals, and 
 also their relations with the Supreme Courts, were 
 arranged in such a manner as to adapt themselves 
 with ease to the new order of things, without any 
 occasion for additional charges and innovations. 
 
 " All prohibitory laws, as well as those which grant- 
 ed privileges to certain classes and individuals for 
 collecting the revenues of the state, were wholly 
 abrogated, as oppressive, hurtful to the treasury, and 
 incompatible w^ith the free exercise of industry. 
 
 *' In order to procure full scope for the exercise of 
 his genius, and to remove those obstacles which are a 
 check to the designs even of absolute princes, the 
 Grand-duke suppressed the farmers of the revenue, 
 who had associated themselves into a body, and held 
 the revenues of the state almost in the same manner 
 as land on lease. Leopold w^as the first sovereign 
 in Europe who freed his kingdom from that radical 
 evil, and delivered his people from a scourge of 
 which all other nations, and particularly the French, 
 so bitterly complained. 
 
 " Those farmers of the revenue who were interest- 
 ed in this measure, were not subjected to any loss ; 
 their contract w^ith government being liable to be 
 
SCIPIO DE RICCI. 175 
 
 rescinded, on condition of a certain sum as an in- 
 demnity, which was duly paid to them. 
 
 " A civic band had Ijecn ah-cady organized, but not 
 established throughout the whole of Tiiscany,ovving to 
 the opposition which was raised against it, and which 
 at length succeeded in preventing its establishment. 
 Some officers of regiments of the line having been in- 
 corporated with it, after the reduction of the regular 
 army, had complained that they were unable to 
 cause themselves to be obeyed by their new soldiers, 
 on the occurrence of some popular disturbance at 
 Prato, which was said to have arisen from discon- 
 tent, on the part of the people, with the reforms 
 which had taken place in the offices and doctrines 
 of the Church. These reforms had rendered the 
 Bishop odious ; Wd served as a pretext to the Court 
 of Rome and theTninistry of Florence, to spread 
 abroad the most calumnious reports in regard to the 
 orthodoxy of Leopold, and to expose him to the ha- 
 tred of his subjects — a hatred much better deserved 
 in this instance, by those who had served him so ill, 
 and who communicated to him those perfidious coun- 
 sels, which caused the ruin of his plans. 
 
 "The public debt had been freed from those shackles 
 which rendered it dependent on the management of 
 Government, and had been divided into so many pri- 
 vate debts and credits between the true debtors and 
 creditors of the State, proportional to their taxes 
 on immovable property. The result of tliis measure 
 
176 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 was the abolition of a management, which collected 
 contributions from all the citizens, paid the interest 
 to the creditors of the treasury, and kept an account 
 of the diminution of their claims. The whole of 
 these operations were conducted at the expense of 
 the State, or, which is precisely the same thing, at 
 the expense of the debtors and creditors — an expense 
 enormous in amount, as is the case in all Govern- 
 ment operations, which, while they form a kind of 
 patrimony to those who are employed to execute 
 them, supply the minister with additional places, and 
 consequently with additional minions. 
 
 " Another consequence of this operation was, that 
 debtors were enabled by it to pay off theii- private 
 debt, whenever they were inclined ; whilst under the 
 former system, no one could free himself from the 
 tax on land by paying a corresponding capital to the 
 State, or, what amounts to the same thing, by annul- 
 ling their claims on the treasury. 
 
 " Among the principal motives which he had for 
 passing this law, preparatory to granting the consti- 
 tution, we ought to place in the first rank the 
 knowledge which Leopold had for a long period pos- 
 sessed, of the abuses to which a prince might con- 
 vert the public debt ; and of the evil designs which 
 ignorant or ill-intentioned ministers sometimes ex- 
 ecute, in regard to the management of the debt it- 
 self. Such jobbing cannot take place without loss 
 to the public, which, in general, is but little ac- 
 
SCIPIO DE UICCI. 177 
 
 quainted witli such matters, and discredit to the re- 
 putation of tlie j)rince wlio permits it, without per- 
 ceiving its importance and its consequences. 
 
 " This preliminary stej) was necessary, in order to 
 insert in the constitution an article proliibiting in 
 future the creation of any public debt. It would 
 have been imprudent to have trusted such a matter 
 to the national assemblies, who, in the commence- 
 ment of their ojierations, would probajjly neither have 
 possessed the information, nor the energy of character 
 necessary for unveiling that source of mischief, and 
 applying to it the proper remedy. The contrary, in 
 fact, was to be expected, inasmuch as a vulgar pre- 
 judice had led many to view the })ublic debt with 
 rather a favourable eye, as if it had been established 
 for the benefit of those who chose to deposit their 
 money in safe hands. 
 
 *' This measure for the extinction of the debt was 
 also rendered void on the accession of Ferdinand the 
 Third, when the mischief arising from the ancient 
 system of managing the debt became apparent to 
 ev^ery one. The Florentines, who complained so 
 bitterly of its liquidation, would now perhaps be well 
 pleased to see it carried into effect. 
 
 "The reform of the criminal law, especially in what 
 concerned the form of procedure, which was infected 
 with all the vices arising from its antiquity, and all 
 the abuses introduced by chicanery and desi)otism, 
 was also exposed to innumeral)le obstacles, and could 
 VOL. I. N 
 
178 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 not safely have been intrusted to the national assem- 
 blies. The people would have suffered for a long 
 time from these disorders, before its representatives 
 had been able to apply a proper remedy to them, 
 and resolve on such a reform as could be readily car- 
 ried into effect. 
 
 " Moved by these powerful considerations, Leopold 
 drew up a code of criminal law, which, however, he 
 did not publish till after a laborious endeavour to 
 reconcile the results of the various discussions which 
 had taken place on the subject, and after having 
 maturely weighed and examined a variety of opi- 
 nions, almost all of them differing from one another. 
 His wishes in regard to it were not completely gra- 
 tified ; but he entertained strong hopes of beholding 
 them one day accomplished by means of the national 
 assemblies. 
 
 " The criminal code of Leopold was greatly ap- 
 plauded, notwithstanding that it contained many de- 
 fects, which were afterwards rendered still more con- 
 siderable by chicanery on the one hand, and by the 
 avarice of those employed in the courts on the other, 
 who did their best to introduce them, under pretence 
 of their being substantial improvements. In this 
 manner, this disfigured and mutilated code, instead 
 of having received any perfection before being adopt- 
 ed as the law of the state in the first representative 
 assembly, had already been rendered so intricate and 
 ina{)plicable, from an admixture of ancient forms and 
 
SCIPIO DK IIICCI. 179 
 
 ])ractices, as to require from Leopold a volume of 
 notes and exjilanations. 
 
 " This is tlie proper place to mention tliat, in the 
 reign of Ferdinand the Third, the criminal code was 
 subjected to so many changes and alterations, as to 
 become the play-thing and servile instrument of the 
 will of the courts and those who compose them. 
 The administration of justice in Tuscany is con- 
 sequently only pure and upright when it happens to 
 be intrusted to judges and advocates whose conduct 
 is regulated by a sense of honour and justice. 
 
 " Let us return to the detail of those measures 
 which were taken with a view of afterwards aidins: 
 in the establishment of the constitution. The Go- 
 vernment had been particularly careful to maintain 
 embankments and other defences against the flooding 
 of the river-s, and had even appointed officers for the 
 express purpose of looking after them, although 
 these works, from their very nature, were such as 
 more particularly related to the individuals interested 
 in preserving their lands from the evils of inun- 
 dation. 
 
 " The most striking feature in the national charac- 
 ter of the Tuscans, (and it is still more remarkable 
 in that of the Florentines,) selfishness, has always 
 rendered it a matter of extreme difficulty to procure 
 agreement among those proprietors whose lands bor- 
 dered on the rivers, and perfectly impossible to 
 inspire that union and mutual confidence which 
 
 N 2 
 
180 MEMOIRS or 
 
 were necessary for the formation of an association 
 wliich should consider the interests of tlie indivi- 
 duals concerned, as the interest of the community at 
 large. Of this original inclination to discord and 
 disunion, ample proofs are supplied by the whole 
 history of the Republic of Florence, and by the 
 chronicles of the burghs and cities, of which the 
 Grand-duchy is now composed. 
 
 *' The works, in consequence, which were necessary 
 as a defence against inundation, could never have 
 been undertaken with success, if Government had 
 not exerted its authority to compel all those who 
 were interested in them, to contribute to their main- 
 tenance. In the beginning, owing to the comj^ara- 
 tively trifling nature of the ends aimed at, the ma- 
 nagement of the whole was intrusted to different 
 magistracies, who collected and applied the funds to 
 their proper objects, without their passing through 
 the public treasury, or being in any way undci- the 
 control of Government. 
 
 " In all their dissensions, the people of Tuscany 
 have always shown a disposition to appeal to a third 
 party, as arbiter, and readily conceded to it full 
 power to compel them to a certain line of conduct, 
 even in cases where it would have failed in jier- 
 suading them to adopt it. In this instance, when 
 the increasing wants and the high importance of the 
 new works, along with the abuses committed by the 
 mngistrates intrusted with their management, had 
 
scirio DE RICCI. 181 
 
 opened the eyes of the proprietors on tlie banks of 
 the river to the evils of the system, — when they 
 came to discover the enormous debts which had 
 been contracted, and found tliemselves oljliged to 
 submit to the raising of considerable sums and con- 
 tributions, without deriving any benefit, or being in 
 any respect better defended against the inundations : 
 — those Tuscans, who were most interested in the 
 proper management of these things, came to a una- 
 nimous resolution to lay their grievances and com- 
 plaints at the foot of the throne. Their example 
 was followed by others ; and, from every quarter, 
 petitions and supplications for relief, or some reform 
 of the abuses which prevailed, were addressed to the 
 Prince as the head of the Government. 
 
 " About this time, that is to say, a little before the 
 accession of Leopold, the ministry displayed a most 
 audacious spirit of encroachment ; and the magis- 
 tracies intrusted with the management of the affairs 
 of the Societies of river proprietors, who had united 
 for mutual defence against the overflowing of 
 the rivers, in places particularly exposed to their 
 course, or which were preserved from their inun- 
 dations by means of artificial canals, were rendered 
 strictly dependent on Government, and included in 
 the Financial department. 
 
 " The Tuscans were well pleased to find a pro- 
 tector who had put himself at the head of the dif- 
 ferent authorities, which had hitherto been intrusted, 
 
182 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 to the great injury and dissatisfaction of the public, 
 with the management of their interests ; and in- 
 dulged a hope that they would be much better served 
 under the new order of things. 
 
 " Flattering but deceitful promises, the murderous 
 instruments of a ministerial despotism, sometimes 
 succeed in imposing upon a whole people, even so far 
 as to subject it to the most detestable tyranny. In 
 this way the proprietors on the borders of the rivers 
 did not, for some years, appear to feel the weight 
 of those taxes for the repair of embankments and 
 other works connected with the prevention of inun- 
 dations, of which they had delegated the imposition, 
 although those taxes had previously been the subject 
 of universal discontent and grievance. Under the 
 authority of the Government, the debts of the dif- 
 ferent bodies who had associated for mutual defence 
 against inundation were increased, and in a short 
 time these bodies found themselves bound for the 
 payment of very considerable sums, without their 
 consenting or being privy to it in any way. 
 
 " This financial intrigue had become a source of 
 underhand gain among the subalterns of the different 
 administrations, and a just ground of discontent on 
 the part of the proprietors, as soon as they discovered 
 that the mass of debt which had been contracted, 
 required fiom them an annual payment of interest 
 to the creditors for the sums which they had ad- 
 vanced. It became necessary, in consequence of 
 
SCIPIO DE RICCI. 183 
 
 this debt, to levy a considerable sum, from those 
 who were interested in the matter, in the shape of 
 tax ; which excited such an universal outcry, that 
 the works necessary for defence against the waters, 
 were denominated ' The impositions of the rivers.''* 
 At length the system was carried to such a pitch 
 that almost every river and ditch had a board of 
 management appointed for it, and became a pretext 
 not only for annual contributions, but for the in- 
 vention of various projects for submitting the whole 
 to that control and protection which those inte- 
 rested in the matter had formerly implored, with 
 the view of putting an end to their differences and 
 disagreements. 
 
 " Such was the state of matters at the accession of 
 Leopold to the throne of the Grand-duchy. Before 
 he had had sufficient time to acquire the knowledge 
 and experience necessary for governing with wisdom, 
 he was induced to establish a board, composed of a 
 great number of officers, to which every thing re- 
 lating to townships, to the civil interest, (the affairs 
 of which were exceedingly embarrassing from their 
 numerous details,) to roads, and to the taxes for 
 ditches and rivers, was committed. 
 
 " This establishment was soon converted into a 
 species of petty kingdom for the benefit of his mi- 
 
 * " Imposizioni dei fiumi." — The Italian scholar will perceive 
 the double signification of the term. 
 
184 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 nions, by the artful and not unintelligent Minister of 
 Finance, and l)ecaii]e, in consequence, a mere mass 
 of confusion. Not to speak of the oppression endur- 
 ed by the townships, nor of the bad management of 
 every thing connected with the roads (the only sub- 
 ject to which I wish for the present to direct atten- 
 tion, being the roads and rivers), an enormous bur- 
 then of taxation was imposed upon those who hap- 
 pened to be interested in the matter, in consecpience, 
 and under pretence of the works required for the 
 rivers. 
 
 *' The knowledge and experience, however, which 
 the Grand-duke speedily acquired, soon led him to 
 perceive the error which he had committed, in per- 
 mitting the establishment of such a commission ; and 
 notwithstanding that it had been appointed by him- 
 self, and bore his name, to determine to reform it in 
 the most complete and efficacious manner. 
 
 " With this view, after many long and important 
 discussions, he determined to intrust anew each body 
 of proprietors interested in the matter, with the ma- 
 nagement of the works connected with its own rivers 
 and ditches, as well as with their respective debts 
 and credits. He never succeeded, however, in pro- 
 curing from the former commission and its agents 
 an exact account of its management. 
 
 " This measure was extremely well received by the 
 public, and for some time the parties interested were 
 both zealous and active in managing their business. 
 
SCI no Di: uicci. 185 
 
 The negligence and disunion, however, so natural 
 and inveterate in the Tuscans, at length displayed 
 themselves anew, and proved to the world that that 
 people still partook only in a very trifling degree of 
 the social spirit, and that it would be a matter of the 
 utmost difficulty to inspire tliem with a desire to en- 
 gage in matters, in which a number of individuals 
 associated together for one common purpose, were 
 equally interested. In fact, Ferdinand the Third 
 had scarcely exhibited symptoms of yielding to mi- 
 nisterial dominion, before petitions from the pro- 
 prietors of the Pisan territory, were sent in on all 
 hands in regard to the taxes for ditches and rivers. 
 These proprietors implored the Grand-duke to place 
 them under the control of that same office, against 
 which, a short time before, they had addressed such 
 loud and vehement complaints. 
 
 " This historical digression is not altogether foreign 
 to the subject in hand. Too many examples cannot 
 be given, to show that the great difficulty to be 
 overcome in endeavouring to establish a constitutional 
 government in Tuscany, lies in the national charac- 
 ter and national habits — habits which have become 
 inveterate, and even assumed the form of maxims 
 and general principles. 
 
 " There was another step of considerable import- 
 ance, which it was necessary to adopt, previous to 
 promulgating the constitution to a people brought 
 up in such opposite habits and forms— namely, a 
 
186 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 legislative measure for the proper management and 
 administration of the custom-houses. 
 
 " That branch of the revenues of the state ought to 
 be treated with the most extensive commercial know- 
 ledge, with the greatest attention to the continual 
 change of the internal circumstances, as well as of the 
 external relations of the country. But it can scarcely 
 be expected that such a mass of information, along 
 with such a strict attention to minute details, should 
 be found even in the most intelhgent IMinister of 
 Finance, considering that he is obliged to interest 
 himself in so many other matters. This considera- 
 tion alone ought to be a sufficient proof, even to 
 those whose minds are most prejudiced against it, 
 that the Government stands in need of, and would de- 
 rive much benefit from the co-operation and collec- 
 tive wisdom of its subjects, who, by means of popular 
 assemblies, could easily collect a knowledge of the 
 wants and wishes of the nation, — wants frequently 
 manifested in the petitions of the individuals and 
 classes who suffer from them. For these reasons, 
 Leopold was anxious to initiate his subjects into this 
 important part of the general interests, and to lay be- 
 fore them a model to work from. A new tariff of 
 duties, along with a new system of management for 
 the custom-houses, w as drawn up by his orders. 
 
 " The principal object in view was, in substance, to 
 render every thing relating to the customs so clear, 
 and so easily intelligible, as to do away with the 
 
scipio Di: nice I. 187 
 
 necessity which had hitlieito existed, of rendering 
 them ahnost a matter of science to the officers em- 
 ployed in their management, and of public instruction 
 to travellers, merchants, and carriers, &c. — and con- 
 sequently, to check all punishment for involuntary 
 transgressions of the tariff, and to put an end to 
 those artifices and tricks, by which the clerks and 
 subaltern agents endeavoured to ensnare the impru- 
 dent and fraudulent. 
 
 " This end was accomplished by drawing up a tariff, 
 or book of rates, not a voluminous dictionary as for- 
 merly, but containing a few pages only, in which the 
 different species of merchandize liable to pay duty, 
 along with the exact amount of duty to be levied, 
 were clearly indicated. The kinds of merchandize 
 were few in number, and the names given to them, 
 those most commonly in use. 
 
 *' The tare and tret to be deducted on account of 
 the boxes, &c. containing the goods, being always 
 liable to dispute, a great impediment to expedition, 
 and frequently unjust and imperfect in application, 
 were abolished. The duty was henceforth to be le- 
 vied on the gross ; the abolition of the tare was, 
 however, considered in the rate of taxation. The 
 constant attempts which had been hitherto made, 
 both by the treasury and the public, to surprise and 
 impose upon one another, were in a manner rendered 
 impossible for the future, by imposing on tlie officers 
 of the customs the duty, which had hitherto rested 
 
188 MKMOIUS OF 
 
 witli the traveller, of declaring the quality and quan- 
 tity of the goods. All that travellers had now to do 
 in the matter was, to present their goods to the 
 proper department of the customs — the clerks and 
 persons appointed for weighing them, declaring their 
 quantity and quality. 
 
 "The export duties were abolished, by which means 
 the Grand-duke was enabled to diminish, by a full 
 half, the trouble formerly rendered necessary by the 
 declarations and verifications which were required. 
 Conveyances and transports were also freed from all 
 delay and expense. 
 
 "The privilege of levying petty duties, as they were 
 called, granted on goods in their transmission from 
 one place to another, was also annulled ; and the 
 necessity which had hitherto existed, for maintain- 
 ing offices of customs for the deposit of samples and 
 invoices, was, in consequence, done away with. These 
 offices were established in the towns in which there 
 were corporations of foreign porters, for loading, un- 
 loading, and taking care of the goods, who had a 
 tariff of rates for their services ; and where there 
 was also a great number of agents for correspond- 
 ing with foreign merchants, and for guaranteeing 
 the execution of all the conditions imposed on those 
 who wished to take advantage of the privilege of 
 transit. But according to the system now proposed, 
 when the import duty into Tuscany had been once 
 paid, all demands were satisfied ; and it was clearly 
 
seirio i)E lucci. 1H9 
 
 proved, that taking into the account the expenses of 
 l)orterage, the eniohinients of the officers stationed at 
 the custom-houses, and at the entrance of the towns, 
 the delays of transmission, and the rate of commis- 
 sion paid to the agents for expediting the business, 
 goods on transit had not in any respect ])een placed 
 in a worse situation by the new tariff, or at least 
 had been so only in a very trifling degree, in compa- 
 rison of what they paid under the system which had 
 been abolished. This became, however, a strong 
 ground of offence, and of determined opposition to 
 the regulations introduced by Leopold ; an opposi- 
 tion raised by the officers of Government, from the 
 Minister himself, to the lowest salaried porter on the 
 establishment. 
 
 " It had been proved at great length, and incontes- 
 tably demonstrated, by a calculation of probabilities, 
 that the treasury gained, by this manner of collect- 
 ing the duties, instead of losing, as the opponents of 
 the measure predicted and threatened. The dimi- 
 nution of places and employments, however, for which 
 there was no longer any necessity, along with the 
 abolition of the custom-houses in the towns, in which 
 there were so many persons of idle habits, and to- 
 tally incapable of any other occupation, and in which 
 so many secret speculations of profit, protection, fa- 
 vour and revenge w^ere carried on, was exceedingly 
 displeasing to the multitude, which had been accus- 
 tomed to look upon these places and employments as 
 
190 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 shops,* and tlie treasury of the state as a good free- 
 hold — a sentiment which is openly expressed in the 
 Florentine proverb : * He is a great fool [who does 
 not look after the rents.' f 
 
 " The plan was, however, drawn up, because Leo- 
 pold had desired it, notwithstanding the opposition 
 and secret dissatisfaction to which it gave rise, and 
 which was duly communicated to him. The law, in 
 regard to the tariff and method of management, was 
 also drawn up and approved ; but some preparatory 
 measures, which it had been impossible to make pub- 
 lic at the time of promulgating the general law re- 
 lating to the customs, were afterwards delayed, neg- 
 lected, or so ill executed, that the Grand-duke died 
 before the system was carried into full effect. 
 
 " This reform, which embraced so many objects at 
 once, which shocked so many prejudices, which dried 
 up so many lucrative sources of abuse, and deprived 
 the Minister of Finance of so many opportunities of 
 patronage, could not possibly have taken place, if it 
 had been intrusted to the national assemblies, be- 
 fore a considerable lapse of time. For this reason 
 Leopold was desirous of consigning it in a state of 
 operation, although far from perfect, to the attacks 
 of petitioners, and to the examination and suffrages 
 of the people, who, if it were found beneficial in prin- 
 
 * " Comme boteghe." 
 
 t " Come unavacca," &c. " Minchione chi non sa trovare il 
 mezzo di mugnerla." 
 
SCIPIO 1)K RICCI. 191 
 
 ciple, might perfect what was found to be improper 
 or inconvenient in the details. 
 
 " Scarcely, however, had the reign of Ferdinand 
 commenced, before every effort was directed towards 
 the destruction of the preliminary measures adopted 
 by Leopold in regard to the rates of duty and regu- 
 lations for the organization of the customs. A ncAv 
 tariff, as monstrous as the former, and a system of 
 management agreeable to ancient prejudices and 
 errors, and highly favourable to the exercise of arbi- 
 trary authority by the administrators and officers, 
 was the result of these proceedings. The young 
 and inexperienced Prince was made to believe that 
 these measures were necessary to complete the edi- 
 fice of which his august* father had laid the foun- 
 dation. 
 
 " Another preparatory measure of the utmost im- 
 portance was that of separating from the revenues 
 of the state, the property which had descended from 
 the family of the Medici, when it governed Tuscany, 
 and the revenue arising from confiscations and acqui- 
 sitions. From these sources a distinct patrimony, 
 entitled the property of the crown, was to be formed, 
 and intrusted to a board of management, immediately 
 and in every i-espect dependent upon the Prince. 
 This board was to take charge of the interests of the 
 crown, and to be totally without the pale of minis- 
 terial influence ; the property, which was the object 
 of its care, being treated in the same manner as the 
 
192 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 property of any private individual, both judicially 
 and extra-judicially,* and subject to the same taxes 
 and the same laws which were in force in Tuscany. 
 
 " The proposal of such a measure furnished the 
 ministry, and especially the Minister of Finance, 
 with a fresh opportunity of signalizing a determined 
 but crafty opposition. Leopold, however, was too 
 well aware of the importance of the measure, and 
 saw too clearly the impossibility of effecting a sepa- 
 ration between the patrimony of the crown and the 
 revenue of the state, by means of a national assem- 
 bly, which all the efforts of the ministry would be 
 employed to influence, to delay its execution. He 
 therefore determined to carry it into effect with his 
 own hand, in order that it might be inserted as one 
 of the articles of the constitution. 
 
 " Every one is aware that in Tuscany the practice 
 of public speaking was almost unknown in courts of 
 justice, and still more uncommon in assemblies of the 
 people, notwithstanding the richness of the language 
 being higldy favourable to the disjjlay of eloquence, 
 and a facility of writing in prose, and of com^iosing 
 improvisatory verses, being very commonly found 
 among the inhabitants. 
 
 " It l)ecame necessary, therefore, to adopt some 
 measure for putting an end to the silent habits of 
 the people, and for inspiring those who were after- 
 wards to be the organs of the national will, with that 
 
 * " Tanto ill giuclizio che fuori." 
 
SCIPIO DE RTCCI. 193 
 
 degree of boldness and confidence wliich public 
 speaking requires. Witli this view Leopold ordered 
 all causes of a civil nature to be pleaded and tried 
 publicly in the courts of justice. 
 
 " This was the only step which it was in the power 
 of the Grand-duke to adopt for the purpose of teach- 
 ing his subjects to reason and to express their senti- 
 ments in public, and for training, encouraging, and 
 preparing them for the discussion of state affairs. 
 Ignorance, however, requires secrecy and darkness ; 
 it dreads lest the voice of the public should turn it 
 into ridicule, and criticise or condemn its proceedings. 
 Hence, in no very long period, those connected with 
 the administration of the law found means, by secret 
 intrigues, and under various pretexts, to render this 
 useful regulation null and void, so that, though it 
 was not repealed, it became totally obsolete. 
 
 " As yet, we have only mentioned the most re- 
 markable measures, of a general nature, adopted by 
 Leopold, for organizing the government in a manner 
 suitable to the constitution which he intended to 
 grant to his svdjjects. All these were directed to 
 the promotion of one great end — to dispose and 
 prepare the nation for receiving a fundamental law 
 or constitution thoroughly freed from the principal 
 defects of the ancient system, as well as from the vices 
 of an administration which had never listened to the 
 voice of the people, nor modified its decrees accord- 
 ing to their wishes, and which had never given any 
 
 VOL. I. o 
 
194 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 account of its operations, except in private to the 
 Prince. 
 
 " It could scarcely be expected that the national 
 assemblies should, immediately after their creation, 
 direct their attention to so many reforms, or that 
 they should originate at once so many new institu- 
 tions, which, in order to be durable, ought to harmo- 
 nize with the spirit of the representative government. 
 It is now perfectly ascertained that popular assem- 
 blies, however useful and necessary for supplying 
 information and sound notions in regard to the 
 pubhc service, are very far from possessing that de- 
 gree of activity which is necessary, in matters in- 
 volving numerous details, for carrying their projects 
 into effect. 
 
 " A people which has only been recently delivered 
 from the yoke of despotism, always retains the fatal 
 habit, handed down to it by its ancestors, of distrust- 
 ing, fearing, and liating the Government, even while 
 they obey it, and of descending to the lowest and most 
 humiliating acts of baseness and degradation, in order 
 to avoid exciting the displeasure of its agents and 
 ministers. Such, in fact, were the people with whom 
 Leopold had to deal ; and it was evidently quite im- 
 possible to change at once their character, their 
 manners, and their conduct. It was absolutely ne- 
 cessary, however, that the Tuscans should attain to 
 the honourable rank of citizens yielding obedience 
 to laws consecrated by their own suffrages, and that 
 
scipio Di: Ricci. 195 
 
 each individual in the community should become a 
 zealous patriot, ambitious of co-operating in the wel- 
 fare of a state united by love and by interest with a 
 paternal monarch. 
 
 " These were neither the sort of ideas into which 
 the Tuscans could most readily enter, nor the kind 
 of sentiments which could be expected to grow up 
 and free them from the hideous mask which they 
 had so long worn at the very moment of receiving a 
 new and unexpectedly happy constitution. 
 
 " Scarcely indeed could any reasonable and reflect- 
 ing person expect to witness the most languid ex- 
 pression of surprise and dehght, even in that small 
 remainder of citizens whose minds were not alto- 
 gether depraved, and in whose hearts the love of 
 their country, respect for the throne, and regard for 
 a Prince who had identified himself with the nation, 
 were not altogether extinguished. This small num- 
 ber of truly honourable individuals had withdrawn 
 into that humble and voluntary obscurity, and main- 
 tained that prudent and salutary silence, so necessary 
 in all ages to those philosophers and sages who love 
 security and tranquillity ; for despotism dislikes to 
 have its measures canvassed, and is perfectly aware 
 that it is hated, although it will not listen to the 
 voice of reprobation and disgust Avhich they excite. 
 " The sketch now given will enable the reader to 
 form some sHght idea of that state of things which 
 ought to have existed at the period of promulgating 
 
 o 2 
 
196 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 the constitution ; but much was still wanting to per- 
 fect the measures which had been already adopted, 
 and still more for the completion of those which 
 ought to have proceeded from the constitutional 
 system. 
 
 *"I shall now proceed to detail as briefly as pos- 
 sible the principal articles of the constitution, in 
 order that some judgment may be formed of the 
 degree of harmony which was likely to exist between 
 the sovereign and the representatives of the people, 
 enlightened and informed as each would necessarily 
 be by the petitions and wishes of the people. 
 
 " Every legislative enactment was to proceed from 
 the united suffrages of the sovereign and of the 
 people. 
 
 " The execution of the law was to be intrusted to 
 the Grand-duke, who, for this purpose, was invested 
 with the control and command of the forces, ac- 
 cording to the terms prescribed in the constitution, 
 as hereafter mentioned. 
 
 " The nation was to be represented by communal, 
 {communitative^ provincial, and general assemblies. 
 
 " The right of petition was vested in every in- 
 dividual of the male sex upwards of twenty- 
 five years of age ; and could be exercised at will 
 before the communal assemblies under which he 
 resided, but only in relation to matters of a local 
 
 * Only found in the Italian. 
 
sciPio j)i: Jiicci. 197 
 
 nature, and comprehended in tlie authority delegated 
 to the magistrates of these districts {cojnmiiucs.) The 
 form of the petition was also prescribed. 
 
 " The provincial circle, in which the provincial 
 assemblies were to be held, was composed of the 
 union of several districts {communes.) 
 
 " The provincial assemblies were composed of de- 
 puties from the different communes. The right of 
 petition to these was free, in the same manner as 
 already mentioned, but only for those matters in 
 which the whole province was interested. 
 
 " The great difference in the extent of the differ- 
 ent provinces need not excite surprise ; the aim of 
 Leopold in marking out their boundaries being to 
 assign to them such natural limits in respect of lo- 
 cality and situation, as would tend to excite a spirit 
 of union and Jiarmony in each, and render the suf- 
 frage of the whole perfectly agreeable to all the par- 
 ties interested in it. 
 
 " As in the communal assemblies, it was necessary 
 to receive the petitions of the commune, and of the 
 individuals composing it ; so also was it necessary 
 to discuss them, and to decide by a plurality of votes 
 those which were worthy of being taken into con- 
 sideration, in order that they might be intrusted to 
 the deputies who were commissioned to present them 
 to the provincial assemblies for the purpose of being 
 discussed and determined anew. 
 
 " In the provincial assemblies, deputies were ap- 
 
198 MEMOIllS OF 
 
 pointed to take part in the delil)erations of the 
 general assemljly. To them were intrusted the 
 petitions which had been received and passed as 
 expressing the will of the whole province ; and in 
 this manner the petitions from the districts and from 
 the provinces were decided upon at once. 
 
 " The provincial deputies formed the general as- 
 sembly, which was to meet annually at a fixed time, 
 without any preliminary notice or invitation. Its 
 sitting was to be held first at Pisa, then at Siena, 
 next at Pistoia, and lastly at Florence, so that each 
 of these towns might have it held within its walls 
 once in every four years. In regard to Leghorn, 
 a particular regulation was made, which will be given 
 in the end. 
 
 " From what has now been said, it will be clearly 
 seen that the principal object of the new constitution 
 was to make the wishes and events of the nation 
 known to the head of the Government ; as well 
 those of the small districts as those of the great 
 provinces ; and to procure such an examination, 
 discussion, and sifting of them, as to prevent the 
 possibility of their being equivocal in their nature, 
 too hastily agreed to, or in opposition to the general 
 wishes of the nation. 
 
 " It will also be easily perceived that the necessity 
 of discussing these matters in different assemblies 
 obliged the representatives of the people to make 
 themselves acquainted both with local and with 
 
scirio DE iiicci. J 99 
 
 national interests, as well as with the system of le- 
 gislation by which they were governed, and the 
 measures adopted in different circumstances by the 
 administration : — things to which no one had liitherto 
 paid the smallest attention, because a knowledge of 
 them could have served no useful purpose, and 
 because any attempt to penetrate into the secrets 
 of Government — that mysterious domain reserved 
 for the Ministry alone — would have been sufficient 
 to have stamped the person guilty of it with the 
 seal of sedition and disaffection. 
 
 " The sovereign, whose only aim is to promote the 
 interest of the public, sees no want so pressing, no 
 object so important, as that of knowing exactly the 
 grievances of his subjects, and the most proper me- 
 thod of redressing them. It was in this way that 
 Leopold succeeded in attaining that great object of 
 every good government, and of every good prince, 
 who is desirous of promoting the welfare of his 
 country, and knows that its prosperity is the strong- 
 est bulwark of his throne. 
 
 " He also succeeded in some measure, in accom- 
 plishing what he had no less at heart ; namely, in 
 rendering his subjects practically conversant with the 
 affairs of government, and inspiring them with a 
 zeal for the welfare of their country, and with con- 
 fidence in a Prince who voluntarily intrusted them 
 with a share in the national legislation, that he might 
 derive benefit and information from their discussions. 
 
200 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 and that every thing connected with the prosperity 
 of the country might be subjected to mature delibe- 
 ration, and the influence of public opinion. 
 
 " Such, in substance, was the constitution and the 
 spirit which pervaded it. The remainder is only a 
 series of consequences, naturally arising out of these 
 principles. Here, therefore, I might terminate this 
 Memoir ; but history can never be too rich in 
 opinions and facts ; and I shall therefore, with the 
 view of adding to its stores, proceed to give a slight 
 sketch of the other parts of this fundamental law of 
 the state. 
 
 "As a principal article of policy, the constitution 
 required the strictest neutrality to be observed with 
 foreign nations, even with those which were barba- 
 rous at all times, and under all circumstances, by sea 
 as well as by land. 
 
 " The Government was prohibited from forming 
 any alliance, either offensive or defensive, as well as 
 from receiving assistance and protection from foreign 
 powers, or giving them the least aid, except accord- 
 ing to the terms of the strictest neutrality. These 
 terms had been amply set forth and explained in a 
 m.anifesto, which had been published on the subject, 
 without exciting any remonstrance on the part either 
 of the greater or lesser states. 
 
 " I shall not enter into any detail of the articles of 
 this manifesto ; they will be related by those who 
 may undertake to write the history of Leopold. All 
 
SCIPIO DE RICCI. 201 
 
 that is necessary to be known on the sul)ject is, that 
 neutrahty liaving been rendered an article of the po- 
 litical creed, the observation of which was indispens- 
 able to a country of limited extent and resources, we 
 need not be astonished that no mention is made in 
 the constitution, either of the power of making war 
 or peace, of entering into alliances, granting subsidies, 
 and other similar acts. 
 
 " The army was to be entirely national, and regu- 
 lated in the manner which I have pointed out in its 
 proper place. Before the publication of the consti- 
 tution, it was to be completed and organized in every 
 respect and in every place ; and if by any unfore- 
 seen calamity it should happen to be destroyed, it 
 was hoped that a better choice and more honourable 
 appointments, would be sufficient to restore it ; and 
 also, that a better plan of organization might be 
 substituted for that which had been adopted. 
 
 " The construction of fortresses and other similar 
 edifices was expressly prohibited, and those already 
 in existence were not allowed to contain any artil- 
 lery, even although it should have been placed there 
 merely for the purpose of preservation . 
 
 " Some exceptions were made on this point in re- 
 gard to Leghorn, on account of its maritime situa- 
 tion ; as well as to the Islands of Porto Ferraio, Gor- 
 gona, and Giglio. 
 
 " Leopold was well aware that Porto Ferraio was 
 a great burtlien to the state, to which it yielded no 
 
202 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 revenue ; but he could not see in what way it was 
 possible to rid himself of it. 
 
 " Freedom of commerce became an article of the 
 constitution, of which any infringement, even of a 
 temporary nature, was strictly forbidden ; as well as 
 all attempts to affect it in any indirect way by means 
 of imposts, taxes, or any other impediment. 
 
 " No national, communal, or provincial debt, could 
 be contracted ; and in regard to communal debts 
 already contracted, their liquidation by the communes 
 was ordered to take place according to a regulation 
 introduced for the purpose. 
 
 " Neither could any debt be contracted on the pa- 
 trimony of the crown, which was declared inalienable, 
 indivisible, and incapable of being claimed. 
 
 " And, as the property which had been annexed to 
 this patrimony, did not yield a sufficient revenue for 
 the proper support of the Grand-duke and his family, 
 the public treasvuy was charged with the annual 
 payment of the additional sum required for that 
 purpose. 
 
 " The declaration which Leopold wrote with his 
 own hand, is worthy of being held up as an example 
 to all other princes ; namely, that the state could 
 not be obliged to furnish any supplies, either for por- 
 tions to the princesses, for the expense of maintain- 
 ing them, or for the establishment or promotion of 
 the princes of the reigning family. 
 
 " The Tuscan territory was declared incapable of 
 
scirio DE iiicci. 203 
 
 increase, diminution, or exchange, in any way, for 
 any cause, or from any source. 
 
 " The princes of the reigning family were pro- 
 hibited from receiving the investiture of any eccle- 
 siastical benefice in the patronage of the crown ; 
 as well as from occupying any situation in the state, 
 civil or military. This prohibition was also extend- 
 ed to princes of foreign families, possessing royal 
 authority. 
 
 " The sagacity and foresight of Leopold, in the in- 
 troduction of these provisions, is truly worthy of ad- 
 miration. He appears to have been perfectly aware, 
 how easily places filled by younger branches of the 
 reigning family degenerated into sources of abuse ; 
 how very rarely they failed to give rise to intrigues 
 and disorder in the Government, and how totally im- 
 possible it was, that ecclesiastical benefices intrusted 
 to such persons, could promote the ends which they 
 were destined to accomplish. 
 
 " The prerogative of granting pardons had been 
 reserved in favour of the Grand-duke ; but simply 
 for the purpose of commuting or diminishing the 
 corporal punishment adjudged to those already con- 
 demned. It did not extend to the remission of fines. 
 
 " Leopold refused to accept any privilege of inter- 
 fering in causes of a civil nature. The courts of 
 justice were organized in such a manner, as to en- 
 able them to decide all matters, whatever might be 
 their nature, according to the strictest equity. 
 
204 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 " In the preamble to the provisions inti'oduced for 
 that purpose, Leopold expresses himself in the fol- 
 lowing magnanimous terms : Only a weak or evil- 
 minded despot can believe himself superior to the 
 law ; because its end and intention being to regulate 
 and preserve the rights of private individuals, it is 
 evident that any restraint upon its operation, in be- 
 half of one or other of the parties concerned, must 
 be either a gi'oss abuse of power, or an effect of the 
 imprudence, versatility, or ignorance of those judges, 
 \vho introduced this new species of clemency — a 
 clemency which can never be extended to any one, 
 without wronging or injuring that party in whose 
 favour the law has decided.' 
 
 " ' If the law is not good,' adds he, ' let it be reform- 
 ed ; if it is not explicit, let it be rendered intelligible ; 
 if it is not sufficiently comprehensive in its enact- 
 ments, let it be amended ; not when a particular case 
 or difficulty occurs, for which it contains no provi- 
 sion, but after mature deliberation, and by the autho- 
 rity of the legislature.' He next proceeds to lay 
 down rules for enabling the judges to terminate all 
 processes which might come before them, definitively, 
 according to the law, and without leaving any ground 
 for a renewal of judicial proceedings. 
 
 " Such was the part of the judicial regulations 
 which was to be promulgated along with the consti- 
 tution, in order to enable him to insert in it an article 
 for the annulment of every species of clemency or 
 
SCIPIO DE KICCI.. 205 
 
 pardon. The remaining part cannot be introduced 
 here, because no perfect idea of it could be conveyed 
 without detailing the entire plan, as well as the dis- 
 cussions which took place in regard to it between 
 two eminent lawyers. 
 
 " A list of all the offices and employments of the 
 state, civil, military, and judicial, was to be drawn 
 up, and their respective salaries fixed ; the whole to 
 be in the nomination of the Grand-duke, according 
 to the mode pointed out by the constitution, without 
 any power or authority to alter them in the smallest 
 degree. 
 
 " The appointment of the bishops and the power of 
 collating to ecclesiastical benefices, whether under the 
 patronage of the Grand-duke, or that of the com- 
 munes, as well as to military crosses of honour, was 
 to take place in the same manner. 
 
 " The royal prerogative, to give an idea of it in as 
 few words as possible, extended to every thing not 
 contrary to the fundamental law of the constitution. 
 
 " The Grand-duke, as the head of the Govern- 
 ment, was intrusted with the execution of the law, 
 and invested with ample authority for that pur- 
 pose, — the nomination to all offices and employ- 
 ments in the state being not only dependent on him 
 alone, but also the power of issuing all orders, regu- 
 lations, and provisions, necessary for insuring the 
 observance and execution of the laws. 
 
 " All laws in existence on the day that the consti- 
 
206 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 tution was promulgated, were to be considered as 
 binding and valid. 
 
 " Such was, in substance, what would now be term- 
 ed the executive power, a power limited only by 
 the constitution, of which the legislative power, as 
 well as the right of petition, were inherent parts. 
 
 '* It was certainly a subject of no small wonder and 
 astonishment, at a time when the doctrine, that ' the 
 sovereign was every thing and the prince nothing,' 
 was still held, to see a prince of the House of Austria 
 foremost in proclaiming the rights of mankind, and 
 instructing his subjects in sound principles of civil 
 liberty, by decreeing what I shall now briefly state 
 before terminating these Memoirs. 
 
 " New laws might be proposed by the general as- 
 semblies, but could not become binding until they 
 had received the sanction of the sovereign ; and in 
 the same way the latter could submit projects of new 
 laws to the former, which, after being discussed and 
 agreed to by the assemblies, became the statute law 
 of the kingdom. 
 
 " Deeply impressed with the importance of obtain- 
 ing a thorough knowledge, not only of the general 
 wants and wishes of the kingdom, but also of every 
 province, commune, and individual which it contain- 
 ed, in order to deserve and inspire that confidence 
 which is necessary to procure due obedience and 
 submission from the subject, Leopold strongly re- 
 commends, that nothing may be concealed, through 
 
SCIPIO DE UICCI. 207 
 
 a false feeling of respect, from him, which has been 
 urged either in the assemblies, or in the petitions 
 wliich have I^een presented to them. No one, says 
 he, ouglit ever to imagine that the sovereign either 
 wishes, or can wish, any thing more anxiously than 
 the public good, in its utmost extent ; whatever he 
 may do contrary to that, ought to be attributed not 
 to malicious intention, but to the weakness of hu- 
 manity, or to those deceptions to which princes are 
 but too much exposed. 
 
 " In pointing out the principal duties of the repre- 
 sentatives of the people, Leopold placed in the fore- 
 most rank that of preserving the constitution invio- 
 late, and of opposing in the most honourable and cou- 
 rageous manner every thing which tended to lessen 
 its activity, or to invade its authority and privileges. 
 
 " Among the most remarkable parts of the consti- 
 tution, were the formulae for denouncing in the as- 
 semblies of the nation all acts and petitions of a 
 nature contrary to its spirit — formulae which applied 
 to petitioners sanctioned by the ministry or the so- 
 vereign, as well as to those who enjoyed no such 
 protection. 
 
 " While declaring that in regard to all matters not 
 within the royal prerogative, the consent of the peo- 
 ple was absolutely necessary, Leopold also promised 
 to use his utmost efforts to bring forward only such 
 proposals as were worthy of being well received by 
 the nation ; and exhorted its representatives to act 
 
208 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 in the same manner in regard to those which they 
 submitted for his sanction. This was a language 
 which people had hitherto been unaccustomed to 
 hear from the lips of a prince. 
 
 "The annual accounts of the income and expendi- 
 ture of the state were ordered to be publicly scruti- 
 nized by the national assembly ; and the Minister of 
 Finance enjoined to give every information and ex- 
 planation which might be required in regard to 
 them. 
 
 " No addition to the salaries of the officers of Go- 
 vernment could take place until it had received the 
 united sanction of the sovereign, and of the repre- 
 sentatives of the people ; and the same rule was 
 applicable to all pensions and gratuities for extraor- 
 dinary services. 
 
 " Every officer in the employment of Government, 
 whatever might be his rank, was to be dismissed, 
 without any hope of being again restored, if declared 
 unfit for the duties of his office ; but for such an act 
 of authority the unanimous consent of the whole re- 
 presentative assembly (though not of the prince) was 
 absolutely necessary. 
 
 " Leopold always dreaded the influence of the mi- 
 nistry, an influence which they employ to gain the 
 favour of the sovereign, by putting in force every 
 species of artifice for the extension of the royal pre- 
 rogative. It is in this way, in fact, that they suc- 
 ceed in dazzling the weak and the ambitious. 
 
sciPio nr. Kicci. 209 
 
 *' The article which required the succession to the 
 throne to be kept in the male line, to the exclusion 
 of females and their descendants, was declared irre- 
 vocable and unalterable. 
 
 " One principal defect in the constitution lay in its 
 not having made any provision for the occurrence of 
 a minority or regency, for the education of the young 
 princes who were afterwards to be raised to the 
 throne, for cases of incapacity arising from mental 
 alienation, or finally, for gross and violent breaches 
 of the charter ; but it must be borne in mind that 
 people were not then so well skilled in forming con- 
 stitutions as they have since been. 
 
 " Before the prince could be crowned, or exercise 
 any part of the sovereign authority, it was absolutely 
 necessary that he should have agreed to the consti- 
 tution, and solemnly promised to observe it. 
 
 " The assumption of the sovereign authority was to 
 take place publicly, and to be accompanied with 
 various ceremonies which would be useless to detail 
 here. 
 
 " Bv the articles of the constitution, no new fiefs 
 could be created, nor those which became extinct be 
 conferred anew. 
 
 " The imposts, taxes, royal droits, were to remain 
 the same, without either increase or diminution, as 
 they stood at the promulgation of the constitution. 
 Those intrusted with the collection were obliged to 
 
 VOL. 1. p 
 
210 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 deliver an annual account of the amount received. 
 The same rule was also to be observed by those 
 having the charge of communes. 
 
 " The Minister of Finance was personally bound to 
 give in a detailed report of all these accounts to the 
 general assembly. 
 
 " The sale or farming of the taxes, duties, or droits 
 of the state was expressly forbidden by an article of 
 the constitution, as well as the grant of exclusive 
 monopolies in any branch of trade or manufacture 
 whatever, whether on account of new and useful in- 
 ventions, or under pretext of profit to the treasury. 
 
 " I shall not enter into any detail of the numerous 
 regulations which were made for holding elective 
 and representative assemblies, because they do not 
 form a principal feature in the admirable work which 
 Leopold was desirous of perfecting. It is of some 
 importance, however, to remark, that those employed 
 in the service either of the Court, or of the State, 
 were excluded from sitting in the national assem- 
 blies, as well as all those who received pensions. 
 All of them, however, enjoyed the right of petition ; 
 and those who held offices under the communes 
 might, notwithstanding, act and vote in the national 
 assemblies. 
 
 " Leopold was perfectly aware of the influence 
 which the holding of any office or appointment ex- 
 ercises on those who are possessed of it, as well as 
 of the extent to wliich the vanity of those who re- 
 
SCIPIO DE UICCI. 211 
 
 ceive any marks of honour or favour from the court 
 will sometimes lead them. He was therefore anx- 
 ious to prevent the possibility of the royal autho- 
 rity being employed, as otherwise it might have 
 been, to corrupt the members and influence the votes 
 of the national assemblies. 
 
 " With the aid of these Memoirs, containing the 
 substance of the projected constitution, it appears 
 to me that the historian of the reign of Leopold 
 will have it in his power to give a striking proof of 
 his political philosophy, as well as of that magna- 
 nimity by which he was characterized, and which is 
 so rarely to be met with in other princes. 
 
 *' The measures adopted in regard to Leghorn re- 
 main to be noticed. The substance of them was, 
 that the commune of Leghorn was excluded from 
 the provincial assemblies : the right of petition and 
 the communal assemblies being left entire. 
 
 " Petitions which had been received and passed in 
 Leghorn, were to be sent to the general assembly 
 for discussion and final settlement by a speaker 
 who had no vote in the communal assembly. 
 
 " The total abolition of the navy, of which how- 
 ever there were still some remains, was also decreed. 
 " By the constitution, all military stations, and all 
 armed vessels for enforcing quarantine, and main- 
 taining observation between the islands and coasts, 
 as well as for the conveyance of expresses, the safe- 
 guard of the coasts, and their necessary equipments ; 
 
 p 2 
 
212 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 the national guard, both horse and foot ; the corps 
 of artillery, fortifications, and the quantity of ammu- 
 nition required, were all fixed in a determinate man- 
 ner, in every place where it had been deemed proper 
 to preserve these establishments on their former 
 footing. 
 
 " I might have comprised within a much smaller 
 compass what has now been said, if my object had 
 been simply to record an important point in the his- 
 tory of Leopold, for the use of his future historian. 
 ^Vhoever may undertake this important task, can 
 easily accomplish it, by excluding whatever may 
 appear to him superfluous, and adding his own re- 
 flections, for the purpose of illustrating so memorable 
 an event. 
 
 " The constitution was never carried into effect; — 
 a circumstance which may possibly obtain for it the 
 applause of a public which has had no opportunity 
 of witnessing its effects upon the spirit of the nation, 
 upon the feelings and sentiments of the ministry, or 
 upon the constancy of a Sovereign whose qualities 
 were of too lofty a nature for the small extent of 
 his dominions. If mahgnity should suggest that a 
 prince, whose authority is limited by the fundamen- 
 tal laws of the state, is nothing more than a subject 
 of the nation, it might be very properly said in 
 reply ; ' Much more happy and fortunate is the 
 prince, whether weak or ignorant, who is governed 
 by the representatives of the people, than he who is 
 
SCIPIO DE RICCI. 213 
 
 held in sulyectioii by some proud and favourite 
 courtier, by a crafty minister, or a miserable pro- 
 stitute.' 
 
 " Happy, therefore, it may be added, is that coun- 
 try in which the sovereign is endowed with all 
 those qualities which good government requires, and 
 who is fully aware of the utter impossibility of exe- 
 cuting by his own unassisted powers the important 
 duties of his high office ! Happy that country in 
 which the sovereign disdains not to avail himself of 
 the information and assistance of his subjects ; in 
 which he inspires the confidence and zeal necessary 
 for rousing the energies and activity of his people ; 
 and instead of dreading their superior influence and 
 authority, courts their aid and advice as the surest 
 means of enabling him to discharge his duty as sove- 
 reign, and of increasing his glory by promoting the 
 welfare of the country ; — because it is infinitely more 
 difficult to find in one man, who is born to command, 
 those virtues and talents which are indispensably 
 necessary for governing well and wisely, than to 
 unite a whole assembly in the furtherance of that 
 general prosperity in which it is itself to participate 
 along with those whom it represents. 
 
 " As the vices of every government, while they do 
 injury to one party, are necessarily profitable to 
 another, so there results from this circumstance an 
 unjust preponderance, which always prevents go- 
 vernments from reforming themselves until the evil 
 
214 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 has become incurable, intolerable, and universal. In 
 such cases the wild despair or complete demoraliz- 
 ation of" the people, call imperiously for a reform of 
 the old system, or the substitution of a new one. 
 Keason soon discovers in these, vices and errors of 
 equal magnitude with those foi'merly complained of ; 
 and men again wish for what they formerly detested 
 and destroved.' 
 
SCll'lO DE KICCI. 215 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Account of the Ecclesiastical Assembly of Florence, and of the 
 Acts passed by it, — Answers of the Bishops. 
 
 The Ecclesiastical Assembly of Florence is much 
 less known out of Tuscany, than the Synod of Pis- 
 toia ; yet the collection which contains its history 
 and its acts, is very voluminous. For these two rea- 
 cons, we have thought that it would not be altogether 
 useless to give in this place an extract from a work 
 so very important in many points of view, and es- 
 pecially to Governments which profess the Catholic 
 religion, or of which \he subjects are Catholics. The 
 extract will also be equally interesting to those who, 
 in reading the Life of Ricci, are desirous of knowing 
 the principal opponents of the reforms projected by 
 Leopold. We shall add to it a few documents relative 
 to the ecclesiastical jurisdiction exercised by the civil 
 power — documents which were printed during the 
 life-time of Leopold, and which were intended to 
 
216 MEMOIRS 01' 
 
 enlighten his clergy, and prepare the way for those 
 measures to which he was desirous that they should 
 agree, for the general welfare of the Tuscans. 
 
 ^ I. One of the seven quarto volumes which con- 
 tain the acts alluded to, is entitled " The History of 
 the Assembly of the Archbishops and Bishops of Tus- 
 cany, held at Florence in 1787."* It was printed 
 at Florence, in 1788 ; and drawn up, as well as the 
 other six volumes, by the Abbe Reginald Tanzini. 
 
 The preface contains a deplorable picture of the 
 ignorance and servility of the Tuscan clergy at this 
 period. 
 
 " The famous constitution Unigeniius^'' it is ob- 
 served, " which encountered so much opposition in 
 France, was received in Tuscany without the slight- 
 est objection or hesitation ; all that is necessary to 
 remark in regard to it, is, that in a synod of Pis- 
 toia held in 1721, it was placed immediately after 
 a short confession of faith. 
 
 " Not only were the Bulls of the Popes consi- 
 dered as so many irrevocable laws, wliich were not 
 subject to the smallest explanation ; but also, all the 
 decrees and consultations of the Romish Congrega- 
 tions. If a book was inserted in the Index Expur- 
 gatorius, it was a sufficient reason for ordering it to 
 be burned, or for locking it up in some inaccessible 
 corner, to serve as food for the worms, along with tlie 
 Koran, and the writings of atlieists and sceptics. 
 * " Istoria dell' Assemblia," &c. 
 
scirio DE lucci. 217 
 
 " Every action, every faulty and inconsiderate ex- 
 pression, which had happened to give ofTencc to any 
 hypocritical or ignorant female, were viewed in the 
 light of crimes, which it was proper to bring to the 
 knowledge of the Inquisition, and to punish in a 
 more terrible manner than ordinary offences against 
 the laws of civil society. 
 
 " The Count della Gherardesca, Archbishop of 
 Florence, along with Incontri, the able opponent of 
 the Casuists, and even Martini, who were his suc- 
 cessors, laboured with great zeal to dissipate such 
 ffross ignorance. The first had the Catechism of 
 Montpellier translated into Italian, and distributed 
 throughout his diocese. Rome condemned the trans- 
 lation, and the prelate died of chagrin."* 
 
 Bishop Alamanni exerted himself in the same way 
 to diffuse information through Pistoia and Prato. 
 " The ignorance in that diocese was so deep-rooted 
 and scandalous, that many of the priests not only 
 did not understand, but could not even read Latin." f 
 Alamanni's vicar, who had the character of being the 
 most learned person in his diocese, warmly opposed 
 the plan of instituting a theological professorship, 
 under pretence that it was dangerous to allow the 
 young clergy to investigate the evidences of religion, 
 and become acquainted with the arguments which 
 had been employed in attacking it. 
 
 It was the doctrine of Probabilism {probabUisme) 
 * Ibid. p. 10. t Ibid. 
 
218 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 with which Alamanni had to contend ; and which 
 he resisted successfully, though not without much 
 disagreement, by opposing to it the morality of 
 Father Concina. Such, in fact, was the ungovern- 
 able violence of the two parties, that they had re- 
 course not only to calumny, but to blows ; and the 
 Government was finally obliged to banish the heads 
 of the Anti-Concinniste faction. 
 
 Ippoliti, who succeeded him, followed his ex- 
 ample. The writings of the monks of Port-Royal, 
 Arnauld, Nicole, Duguet, Gourlin, and Quesnel, 
 were disseminated during the time that he was Bi- 
 shop ; and Ricci finally completed then- triumph. 
 
 The dioceses of CoUe and Chiusi followed the 
 same example. * 
 
 Next comes a statistical account of the ecclesias- 
 tical state of Tuscany. In 1784, the Grand-duchy 
 contained the astonishing number of 7,957 secular 
 priests ; 2,581 persons in orders of an inferior rank ; 
 2,433 regular priests, along with 1,627 lay-brothers, 
 distributed over two hundred and thirteen convents; 
 besides 7,670 nuns, occupying an hundred and thirty- 
 six establishments of seclusion. f 
 
 Then follows a long enumeration of reforms ef- 
 fected by the Grand-duke, before convoking that 
 assembly, which was to put the finishing stroke to 
 his ecclesiastical designs, to prepare their ratifica- 
 tion, and to give notice to the approaching national 
 * Ibid. p. 11. t Ibid. p. 12. 
 
SCIPIO DE RICCI. ^19 
 
 council, of the measures wliich he intended it to 
 complete and put in force. 
 
 It is there remarked, that Leopold endeavoured 
 to give fresh vigour to ecclesiastical studies by the 
 foundation of academies, which should be strictly con- 
 fined to such an object ; that he strongly inculcated 
 on the bishops the necessity of keeping a vigilant eye 
 on the morals of the clergy, and of admitting no one 
 into the priesthood who was not in every respect 
 worthy of becoming a member of it. He farther 
 adopted every possible measure for preventing the too 
 great poverty, and consequent contempt, of the cler- 
 gy ; he rendered the curacies ])erpetual, and com- 
 pelled the curates to reside, and to perform their 
 duties with punctuality. Next he abolished the ex- 
 emptions and noxious privileges enjoyed by the re- 
 gular clergy ; and it was his desire that they should 
 neither be dependent on Rome, on any superior, or 
 any bishop residing without the limits of his states. 
 He never appointed any superiors but such as were 
 Tuscans and natives of the kingdom ; he suppressed 
 the class of hermits ; and he was anxious to prevent 
 the payment of taxes to any one not residing with- 
 in the kingdom ; he prohibited females from assu- 
 ming the religious habit before the age of twenty- 
 five, and from making formal profession before they 
 were thirty. It is stated that he reduced all the 
 female convents where the communal life was not, 
 or could not be strictly observed, and converted them 
 
220 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 into conservatories entirely dependent on the Go- 
 vernment except in spiritual matters, in which no 
 vows were required, and in which they were obliged 
 to instruct young females, and to keep open school ; 
 that he diminished the pomp of the church festivals 
 and ceremonies, as w ell as their numbers ; that he 
 abolished all societies denominated Pious, all congre- 
 gations, confraternities, and third orders, &c. ; and 
 that he substituted for them a single confraternity, 
 called the Confraternity of Charity, which was or- 
 dered to assist in the discharge of religious func- 
 tions, in succouring and relieving the sick, in accom- 
 panying the viaticum, &c. He suppressed the In- 
 quisition, and restored to the bishops the right of 
 trying spiritual causes, exhorting them at the same 
 time to conduct themselves with clemency and mild- 
 ness ; he forbade, in the strongest terms, the pub- 
 lication of any address, censure, or excommuni- 
 cation, which had not been sanctioned by the royal 
 Exequatur ; he totally prohibited and suppressed 
 the bulls Ifi cccna and Amhitiosa ; abolished the 
 privilege enjoyed by the priests of trying laymen 
 in their courts ; and subjected every one in holy 
 orders, to the jurisdiction of the civil tribunals, 
 when the offence charged was of a criminal nature. 
 Finally, he left to the ecclesiastical courts, merely the 
 cognizance of matters of a purely spiritual nature. 
 
 The preface is followed by a preliminary dis- 
 course, in which the author informs us, that the 
 
SCIPIO DE RICCI. 221 
 
 Tuscan bishops, in obedience to the orders of the 
 Grand-duke, prepared to hold their diocesan synods, 
 when they received from Leopold fifty-seven ques- 
 tions, or theological points, which he desired them 
 to consider, and to send him their answers. 
 
 The same was signified in a second circular, 
 dated Jan. 26th, 1786, which contained, besides, a 
 declaration of the intention of Leopold to purge 
 rehgion of the abuses and superstitions by which 
 it was disfigured, and to restore it to its primi- 
 tive purity and perfection. He at the same time 
 implored them to express their sentiments fearlessly 
 and boldly on that head. The intelligence and 
 information of the Grand-duke were every where 
 admired, says M. Tanzini, and his fifty-seven points 
 were reprinted in France.* 
 
 Ricci availed himself of this circumstance to hold 
 a diocesan synod of Pistoia.f 
 
 The answers of the bishops to the fifty-seven 
 points being far from uniform, the Grand-duke 
 adopted the resolution of calling, previously to the 
 convocation of the national council of which he had 
 sketched the plan, an assembly of bishops, in which 
 the matters intended to be agitated should be pre- 
 pared and discussed in such a way as to leave no 
 pretext for opposition or discord. On the 17th 
 March, 1787, the bishops were convoked, and their 
 assembly opened on the 23rd April following. 
 
 * Ibid. Proemio, pp. 3, 4. f Ibid. Proemio, p. 5, et seq. 
 
222 :memoirs of 
 
 The whole of Tuscany was occupied with tliis 
 event, and more particularly those persons who had 
 either been delighted with the suppression of the Je- 
 suits, or who deplored that unexpected catastrophe. 
 The former opposed, along with the Prince and some 
 Tuscan prelates, the pretensions of the Court of Rome 
 and the superstitious notions of the vulgar, parti- 
 cularly the Worship of the Sacred Heart {Cordico/ei)^ 
 which was the rallying sign of the secret Society of 
 the Jesuits, the impenetrable mystery of whose pro- 
 ceedings concealed the continual additions which it 
 made to its members. The others, on the contrary, 
 employed, of course, every means in their power to 
 support that society, and were aided in their perni- 
 cious designs by the populace, the monks, and the 
 See of Rome. 
 
 Three archbishops and fourteen bishops attended 
 the first session, and were, each of them, accompa- 
 nied by two or three legal advisers. A violent dis- 
 pute took place in regard to the manner of express- 
 ing the opinion and will of the assembly, or rather 
 on the canonical mode of procedure in councils of a 
 similar kind ; the resolutions of the assembly, on 
 that point, naturally serving as a model for the gui- 
 dance of the approaching national council. The op- 
 position party, that is to say, five- sixths of the mem- 
 bers of the assembly, loudly called for the plurality of 
 votes, which were in their favour, as the best mode 
 of expressing it ; the other party insisted on the 
 
sciPio DE iiicci. 223 
 
 unanimity which the Grand-duke had demanded in 
 his circular. The question was finally determined 
 in favour of a plurality of votes, and the Bishops of 
 Pistoia, of Colle, and of Chiusi, were obliged to con- 
 tent themselves with an insertion in the acts of their 
 protest against this irregularity * 
 
 The second session opened by a recommendation 
 of secrecy in regard to the proceedings of the as- 
 sembly, — a secrecy which had been violated in so 
 scandalous a manner, in regard to what had taken 
 place at the first meeting of the bishops, that the 
 speeches of each of the members had been very cur- 
 rently reported in almost every house at Florence. 
 
 They next proceeded to an examination of the 
 three first points proposed by the Grand- duke. All 
 the members agreed in the opinion expressed l^y the 
 Prince, except in regard to the deliberative voice 
 which he conferred on those who were only priests, 
 and which the assembly, with the exception of the 
 Bishops of Pistoia, Colle, and Chiusi, and the canons 
 and theologians de Vecchi, Tanzini, Palmieri, Lon- 
 ginelli, &c. would only recognize as consultative. 
 In the very animated discussion which took place 
 on the subject, the Bishop of Pescia behaved with 
 the greatest violence, and allowed himself to be so 
 transported with passion, as to accuse Palmieri of 
 heresy, because he had proposed an examination of 
 the divine right of the priests to sit as synodal 
 
 * Ibid. Sess. 1, p. 15, et seq. 
 
224 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 judges. Lampredi, the adviser of the Archbishop 
 of Pisa, gave the appellation of conventicles {conci- 
 liabules) to those councils which had permitted such 
 an irregularity, notwithstanding his opponents hav- 
 ing distinctly proved that such had been the practice 
 in the Apostolic councils, and in all those which 
 were held in the times of the primitive Church.* 
 
 In the third session, the subject of the plurality 
 or unanimity of votes, as necessary for guiding the 
 decisions of the approaching council, was renewed. 
 The fifteen bishops of the opposition party declared 
 in favour of a plurality, in all cases whatsoever ; 
 the remaining three, only in cases relating to the dis- 
 cipline of the Church, strict unanimity being always 
 required in matters of faith. 
 
 These three prelates gave in their vote, concerning 
 the deliberative right of the priests in synodal as- 
 semblies, for insertion among the acts. 
 
 The assembly next proceeded to an examination 
 of the fourth point, on which no discussion took 
 place ; the necessity of correcting the missal and 
 breviary having, in fact, been agreed to by a resolu- 
 tion. The three metropolitans were ordered to exe- 
 cute this duty with as little delay as possible. 
 
 The proposal for using the language of the coun- 
 try in the administration of the sacraments was not 
 so well received ; and the opposition, in endeavouring 
 to combat its propriety, gave proofs of their igno- 
 
 * Ibid. Sess. 2, p. 2(3, et seq. 
 
SCTPIO DK RICCI. 225 
 
 ranee, which were very carefully exposed. How- 
 ever, after showing the opponents of the measure 
 that the Latin language was universally understood 
 and spoken, at tlie period of composing the liturgy, 
 all of them agreed that it would be proper to em- 
 ploy a language which was familiar to the people. 
 Ricci, on his part, gave proofs of his moderation, by 
 declaring that he did not deem it prudent to make 
 any innovation under existing circumstances, imtil 
 the people generally were sufficiently enlightened to 
 view such a change without alarm.* 
 
 In regard to the fifth point, the fathers were 
 unanimously of opinion that the bishops possessed 
 the privilege of granting all lawful dispensations. 
 The opposition party maintained that the privilege 
 of granting them enjoyed by the Court of Rome 
 ought to be respected; but became divided as to 
 whether it would be sufficient to demand from the 
 PojDC power to resume their ancient rights, or whe- 
 ther it would be most proper to receive at his hands 
 the power necessary for granting dispensations. The 
 three bishops of the adverse party refused to agree 
 to this last proposition, because it would have the 
 eff"ect of making the episcopal body be looked upon 
 as merely the delegates, in that respect, of the See of 
 Rome, which ever afterwards, whenever it might 
 think proper to repent of the concession, might re- 
 sume the privilege under pretence of its being merely 
 
 * Ibid. Sess. 3, p. 41, et seq. 
 VOL. I. Q 
 
226 MEINIOIRS OF 
 
 a temporary grant. These three prelates having 
 finally agreed, out of respect to the head of the Ca- 
 tholic Church, and for the purpose of attesting it by 
 a specific act, to request permission to resume the 
 exercise of their ancient rights, (of which they only 
 considered themselves the depositaries, and which 
 they consequently could not give up,) the Bishops of 
 Samminiato and of Soana joined them. The others 
 continued their opposition, principally at the instiga- 
 tion of the Archbishop of Pisa.* 
 
 By order of the Grand-duke, the affair of the Bishop 
 of Chiusi and Pienza was taken into consideration. A 
 pastoral letter in regard to the hidden truths of sound 
 doctrine, which he had addressed, in April 1786, to 
 the clergy and the orthodox part of his diocese, liad 
 been approved by several theologians of the highest 
 merit and reputation, and was afterwards printed and 
 published. Rome condemned it in the course of that 
 year by a biief, which it transmitted to the prelate, 
 accusing him of evil intentions, and enjoining him to 
 retract. The prelate, in his reply, cleared himself 
 from the accusation as to the purity of liis intentions, 
 of which, he said, no one had any right to judge ; 
 demonstrated the absolute impossibility of retracting 
 the whole of what he had advanced in his pastoral 
 address, inasmuch as it contained many unquestion- 
 able articles of belief ; and requested that the errors 
 of which he had been guilty might be pointed out to 
 
 • Ibid. Sess. 3, p. 41, ct seq. 
 
scirio DE iiicci. 227 
 
 him as soon as possible, as he only waited to be made 
 aware of them, in order to retract them. Next 
 year the Pope despatched another brief, much more 
 violent than the first, and full of the grossest abuse, 
 not only of the Bishop of Chiusi, but of the whole 
 episcopal body of Tuscany, of the Government, and 
 of the Prince who was at its head, and who, it was 
 there alleged, was tinctured with heterodox opinions. 
 The prelate, in despair, after such a gross personal 
 insult, of receiving any justice at the hands of the 
 Court of Rome, communicated the whole affair to 
 the Grand-duke.^* 
 
 At this part of the volume there occurs an ex- 
 cellent memorial, drawn up by Ricci, and read in 
 the assembly, concerning the inalienable rights of 
 the clergy to full and absolute jurisdiction over their 
 dioceses — rights of which the councils neither wished 
 nor could deprive them, and which they have only 
 explained by the canons ; rights which all pastors 
 are obliged to claim in full, as received from Godj 
 and which they must exercise for the good of those 
 committed to their charge. We have extracted the 
 whole of the passage which relates to the reservations 
 of the Court of Rome.f 
 
 " During the first ages of the Church, no instance 
 occurs of any general and perpetual reservation by 
 the councils in favour of the Pope, nor of any limi- 
 
 * Ibid. p. G9, et seq. 
 
 t Ibid. Sess. 5. p. 73, et seq. 
 
 Q 2 
 
228 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 tation of the power of the bishops prescribed by 
 the Popes themselves. AVhat now remains of the 
 applications which were made to Rome at that time, 
 are in fact any thing but reservations or limitations. 
 The practice of the Church then was, to communicate 
 to the See of Rome the most difficult and imnortant 
 cases which occurred ; to inform her of the fortunate 
 or unfortunate state of the churches which were 
 spread abroad in different parts of the world, and to 
 request her to interest herself in regard to them. 
 The Church of Rome communicated in the same 
 manner her affairs to the other churches, particu- 
 larly to those which were most celebrated and most 
 respectable. As they only formed altogether one 
 body and family under the authority of one supreme 
 and invisible head, Jesus Christ, every thing 
 which occurred, whether fortimate or unfortu- 
 nate, was considered as affecting the whole. The 
 communications to the Church at Rome were na- 
 turally of more frequent occurrence than to any 
 other, from its being, without exception, the most 
 important and respectable. That circumstance, 
 however, does not by any means prove a right of 
 reservation on her part, which in fact is contradicted 
 by what actually took place on such occasions ; the 
 most authentic of the ancient decretals being only 
 simple advices or exhortations. 
 
 " Rome herself did not even pretend to the pos- 
 session of any legislative authority. The Popes, 
 
SCIPIO DE RICOI. 229 
 
 when they were consulted on any point, either solved 
 the doubts which were proposed, or prescribed the 
 observation of rules, not on the authority of any laws 
 enacted by themselves, or any rigiit of reservation, 
 but on that of tradition and the canons, to which 
 they acknowledged themselves bound to yield obe- 
 dience. Whenever they attempted a departure from 
 these principles, or sought to convert them to any 
 bad purpose, the rest of the churches protested 
 against the irregularity of the proceeding, and boldly 
 applied to it the proper remedy. 
 
 " There can be no doubt that the attempt to le- 
 gislate for, and to command tlie rest of the churches, 
 took its origin after the period of the false decretals, 
 and that it was not made either immediately or at 
 once ; for, in general, even the decrees of Innocent 
 tlie Third and Alexander the Third retained for 
 a long time after that period the mere character of 
 exhortations and advices. The frequency, however, 
 of these consultations, the universal ignorance which 
 prevailed every where, except at Rome, the justice 
 and propriety of the replies, and more than all, the 
 political circumstances of the times, made the ad- 
 vice of the Popes be carried into effect without the 
 slightest hesitation or modification. Hence they 
 came, in the course of time, to be considered as of 
 equal authority with the laws ; while the Popes 
 themselves, not finding any resistance to their 
 injunctions, and probably believing that they were 
 
230 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 invested with authority to pronounce them, went so 
 far as to pretend that every thing relating to the 
 church was within the cognizance of their juris- 
 diction. 
 
 " Nothing, however, is more common than to see 
 absolute and unlimited power degenerating into ex- 
 cess and tyranny ; and such was the case with the 
 authority of the Popes. The extravagances of the 
 despotism of the Court of Rome gave rise to mur- 
 murs and dissatisfaction. The power which they 
 enjoyed was never a source of peace and tranquillity. 
 The concordats of Germany and France, the prag- 
 matic sanctions, the liberties of the Gallican church, 
 as they were called, are all of them to be considered 
 as so many proofs of the opposition which was made 
 to the attempts of the Court of Rome, and as so 
 many bulwarks raised by the bishops and the people, 
 with the view of preserving to themselves some por- 
 tion of their primitive and indestructible rights. 
 
 " The covmcils of Constance and Basle wished to 
 strike at the very root of the evil ; that of Trent 
 attempted to restore to the bishops as much of their 
 authority as the preponderance of the Court of Rome 
 would permit. All these attempts have been un- 
 successful ; and Rome, by the creation of its nume- 
 rous Congregations, has devised so many methods of 
 multiplying its reservations, that they have become 
 so numerous as scarcely to leave at the disposal 
 of the bishoi)S a shadow of the authority which 
 
SCIPIO DE RICCI. 231 
 
 originally formed an essential part of the episcopal 
 character." 
 
 The seventh article was next taken into consi- 
 deration. The opposition spent but little time in 
 combating the uniformity of instruction and doctrine 
 demanded by Leopold, in order that it might let 
 loose all its fury and violence against St. Augustin, 
 whom it used every effort to blacken, as being the 
 only source of that uniform doctrine. Larapredi 
 went so far as to declare the holy father a hot- 
 headed declaimer, — a circumstance of which his ad- 
 versaries failed not to take advantage. The oppo- 
 sition bishops, not knowing either how to avert the 
 blow with which they were threatened, or how 
 they could deny the authority of a father of the 
 Church so celebrated as St. Augustin, offered to 
 admit it, on condition that his works should always 
 be accompanied by those of his faithful interpreter 
 St. Thomas. They were aware that the Domini- 
 cans had succeeded in making that scholastic writer 
 speak the language of the Jesuits, and they were 
 desirous of making common cause with them. 
 
 It was objected, however, that the consequence 
 of such a proceeding would be, a return to all the 
 absurdities of the ancient school ; that the writings 
 of St. Augustin had been perfectly well understood 
 until the time of St. Thomas, who had rendered 
 them obscure by his attempts to explain them ; that 
 Baius, Jansenius, and Quesnel, to whom it was pre- 
 
232 MEMOIRS or 
 
 tended that he had given birth, made their appear- 
 ance after his interpreter ; and finally that the pro- 
 position of Father Mamachi, Augustinus eget Thoma 
 mte?y7Xte, (St. Augustin requires the explanations 
 of St. Thomas,) had been tacitly condemned in latter 
 times by the See of Rome. It was, in fact, only in 
 consequence of this partial concession on the part of 
 the Court of Rome, that Father Vasquez, general 
 of the Augustins, had recalled, in 1799, the prohi- 
 bition which he had issued four years before, to 
 quote or name St. Thomas in any disputes which 
 might arise in future : the time, said he, was gone 
 by, in which there was any ground for dreading 
 what he termed " the bugbear accusation of being 
 tinctured with that chimerical heresy, denominated 
 Jansenism." 
 
 The necessity, however, of accompanying St. Au- 
 gustin with the explanations of St. Thomas, was 
 decreed by a majority of the assembly, and a com- 
 mission named to regulate the method of instruction, 
 and to point out the authors who had been most suc- 
 cessful in expounding the doctrines of the holy 
 father. It is not a little remarkable that a work 
 was proposed in which the adversaries of the op- 
 position proved that the writer had inculcated the 
 seditious maxims of Gregory the Seventh, by ap- 
 plying to sovereign princes the epithets of " servants 
 of the Popes ;" by decrying the authority of gen- 
 eral councils, and converting the Roman Pontiff 
 
scirio DE lucci. 233 
 
 into an absolute despot. The Archbishop of Flo- 
 rence denominated these grave errors " trifling ble- 
 mishes," an expression on which Ricci commented 
 with much warmth and severity.* 
 
 The measures recommended by Leopold in his 
 eighth article for preventing any persons from re- 
 ceiving ordination, except such as had been properly 
 instructed, whose morals were unexceptionable, and 
 whose vocation could not be called in question, as 
 well as for preventing a greater number from being 
 ordained than was absolutely required for the service 
 of the Church, gave the opposition some reason to 
 fear that he wished to diminish the number of the 
 clergy. It accordingly employed its utmost efforts 
 to prove that Tuscany, instead of having too many 
 priests, or any who were useless, rather stood in need 
 of some addition to its present number ; and urged 
 that opinion with such determined obstinacy, that it 
 became necessary to allow each bishop to regulate 
 his diocese in that matter as he might deem most 
 proper. The consequence was, that while all agreed 
 to the truth of the principle that no useless priests 
 should be ordained, each reserved to himself the 
 right of ordaining as many as he chose. The clergy 
 denominated Eugenian, belonging to the cathedral 
 of Florence, who were' made priests for no other 
 reason than the services which they had rendered 
 to that church, were exempted from all reform ; from 
 
 * Ibid. \). 80, et seq. 
 
2S4> MEMOIRS OF 
 
 thirty-three clerks who composed it at its commence- 
 ment, that body had increased to one hundred and 
 fifty. The grand argument employed throughout 
 the whole of this discussion w^as, that bishops ought 
 not to tie up their own hands.* 
 
 The same argument was made use of to combat 
 the nintli point, concerning the necessity of fixing 
 eighteen as the proper age for receiving the tonsure, 
 and entering into the clerical profession ; as well as 
 of ridding the churches and the service, of the chil- 
 dren employed in the choir, who went through their 
 duty with as little decency as fervour. The fear of 
 seeing the numbers of the clergy diminished by the 
 lopping off of any one of the shoots from which it 
 was increased, was so great, that it became necessary 
 to leave this article also to the discretion of the 
 bishops. 
 
 The testimony given by Doctor Longinelli, who 
 was director, during eleven years, in regard to the 
 Eugenian clergy of Florence, the most numerous per- 
 haps in the whole of Europe, is worthy of being re- 
 corded. Speaking of their disorderly habits, he says, 
 " At the time that I resided in that city, I used my 
 best endeavours to eradicate, at least, the most appa- 
 rent causes and occasions of the irregularities which 
 were committed, such, for example, as the nocturnal 
 service ; but I dare not flatter myself that I suc- 
 ceeded in extirpating the whole. The admixture of 
 
 * Ibid. Sess. 6. p. 98, et seq. 
 
scirio 13E iiicci. 235 
 
 so many little boys of very tender years, opens up so 
 many sources of disorder, that the utmost vigilance 
 of the most attentive master is incapable of detect- 
 ing them. Tiie children who enter into the society 
 of these young clerks, find these disorders in full 
 operation, and in a short time they also become in- 
 fected with the contagion."* Longinelh reckons four 
 Inmdied j)ersons in orders, at Florence alone. 
 
 The tenth, the eleventh, and the twelfth articles, 
 furnished but little food for dispute. The opponents 
 of the measures promised to conform themselves to 
 them as far as possible ; and the other bishops decla- 
 red that they would regulate their conduct by the 
 expressions of Leopold, in the same way as in the 
 case of the two preceding articles, -f- 
 
 The thirteenth article presents nothing remark- 
 able, except the unanimous adoption, after some little 
 debate, of the principle put forth by the Grand-duke, 
 namely, that the right of patronage in the case of 
 churches, cannot justify any one in nominating a 
 pastor who is disagreeable to the congregation ; and 
 that due deference must be paid in every case to the 
 right which the people have to good spiritual direc- 
 tors and solid instruction.^ 
 
 The fourteenth article gave rise to a very interest- 
 ing and very animated discussion on the practice of 
 asking charity for saying masses ; a means employed 
 
 * Ibid. p. 105, et seq. t Ibid. p. 112, et seq. 
 
 X Ibid. Sess. 7, P- 116, et seq. 
 
236 MEMOIllS OF 
 
 by an avaricious priesthood for retaining the people 
 in a state of ignorance, and inducing them to believe 
 that they thereby purchase the holy sacrifice and its 
 spiritual effects. The practice had been permitted 
 when the necessary number of the clergy was poor, 
 and was consequently obliged to procure its support 
 from the charity of the people ; but since it had pos- 
 sessed in abundance what was necessary for its main- 
 tenance, it only served to increase the numbers of 
 the useless clergy, who looked upon their profession 
 merely as a trade and means of subsistence. The 
 opposition, from an opinion that the Church had not 
 enough of property to support all its ministers (with- 
 out reflecting whether there was not a superfluous 
 number), caused a resolution to be adopted, that the 
 bishops should each of them regulate that matter 
 according to the necessities of their dioceses.* 
 
 The fifteenth article was treated in the same man- 
 ner. The opposition party agreed as to the incom- 
 patibility of more than one benefice requiring perso- 
 nal residence, being conferred on one clergyman ; but 
 they would not consent to the cession of several 
 simple benefices, until their joint incomes should 
 amount to sixty crowns, (14/.J as the Grand-duke 
 proposed, for the support of a chaplain or curate. 
 They saw also in this proposal the much dreaded 
 diminution of the numbers of the clergy, and even 
 openly avowed their fears, saying, that out of five 
 
 • Ibid. p. 119j et seq. 
 
SCIPIO DE KICCI. 237 
 
 small benefices given to five ecclesiastics, there was 
 always a certainty of finding one really good priest 
 — ^a circumstance which could not so certainly have 
 been relied on, if they had all been vmited in one. 
 This reasoning was easily refuted by their adver- 
 saries, who insisted on obedience being yielded to 
 the commands of the Prince, by excluding from the 
 orders all the lazy, and consequently useless priests, 
 and by ordaining for the altar those only who de- 
 served to be appointed.* 
 
 In regard to the seventeenth article, the opposi- 
 tion resisted the declaration, that the person promo- 
 ted to the enjoyment of a benefice in a diocese should 
 in all cases have been ordained within it ; but it 
 allowed, nevertheless, that it would be much better 
 that such were the case.f 
 
 The twentieth and twenty-first articles furnished 
 matter for a discussion in regard to those who were 
 merely priests ; that is to say, those who were not 
 attached to any particular Church, and were only 
 obliged to say mass, and to recite the breviary. The 
 opposition party agreed to the propriety of doing 
 away with that abuse. | 
 
 Oratories and private chapels were attacked with 
 much warmth in the course of the discussion which 
 took place on the twenty-second and twenty-third 
 articles. The bishops of the opposition party would 
 
 * Ibid. p. 123, et seq. f Ibid. Sess. 8, p. 132. 
 
 1 Ibid. p. 137. 
 
238 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 not hear of their being abolished ; they consented, 
 however, to join in prohibiting the celebration of 
 divine service in them on Sundays and festival days, 
 except by permission of the ordinary. The three 
 bishops, and also the Bishop of Soana, demanded 
 their entire suppression ; particularly on the ground 
 of the injustice of always granting the privilege to 
 wealth and rank, which possess no merit in the eyes 
 of the Almighty.* 
 
 The twenty-fifth, and following articles, in regard 
 to the costume of the priests ; the decency of con- 
 duct required from them, which necessarily prohibits 
 them from hunting, frequenting the theatres, &c. ; 
 the dignity of the service of the Church, without 
 either expense or shows ; the ceremonies, fetes, &c. — 
 were intrusted, in so far as regards their execution, 
 to the prudence of the bishops, according to the par- 
 ticular circumstances of their dioceses, f 
 
 The affair of the Bishop of Chiusi and Pienza 
 was resumed. Notwithstanding the explicit orders 
 of the Grand-duke, and the formal request of the 
 prelate himself, the opposition party, consisting of his 
 colleagues, peremptorily refused to examine the pas- 
 toral address in question, as well as the briefs of the 
 Pope, through dread of offending the latter by re- 
 judging not only what he had condemned, but also 
 the sentence of condemnation itself. At last, they 
 came to a resolution, in which tlie Bishops of Pis- 
 * Ibid. p. 140, et seq. t Ibid. Sess. 9, p. 150, et seq. 
 
SCIPIO DE RICCI. 239 
 
 toia and Colle, along with tliose of S. Sepolcln-o and 
 Arezzo joined, that each should give in his opinion 
 in writing, and transmit it innnediatcly to the Grand- 
 duke, with a proviso, that their opinions should l)e 
 communicated to the Bishop of Chiusi — an injunc- 
 tion which Leopold faithfully observed.* 
 
 The discussion on the twenty-eighth article 
 brought under the attention of the bishops the 
 small curtains, veils, or mantles, which it had been 
 the practice to place before particular images. All 
 the arguments of the bishops, theologians, and ca- 
 nonists, who spoke in favour of the proposal of the 
 Grand-duke, however striking and well-founded, 
 could only prevail on the opposition party to agree 
 to the unveiling of the images which were held in 
 the smallest estimation. According to its opinion, 
 the ancient images might remain veiled, without 
 producing the least inconvenience ; provided always 
 that the bishops took care to instruct their flocks not 
 to attach any material or superstitious idea to that 
 mark of respect, f 
 
 The twenty-ninth article brought under their re- 
 view the anniversary masses for the repose of the 
 dead, which had increased beyond all bounds ; the 
 exorbitant number of masses generally; the gross in- 
 decency of saying several masses at the same time 
 in the same church ; the hurry with which masses 
 
 * Ibid. Sess. 10, p. 169, et seq. 
 t Ibid. Sess. 10, p. 177, et seq. 
 
240 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 are said by those who celebrate them, who are dri- 
 ven to this indecent conduct, in order to make 
 room for others ; the quarrels which take place on 
 that subject in the sacristies ; the high or low rate 
 charged for saying masses, according to the greater 
 or lesser number of the candidates ; the application 
 of some masses to a particular person, either living 
 or dead, according to the intention of the celebrator, 
 or his constituent ; the privileges attached to parti- 
 cular altars, days, and priests, &c. The Archbishop 
 of Florence was the most obstinate in denying the 
 existence of such abuses, and in wishing to preserve 
 all these matters on the same footing on which they 
 were. All the other prelates allowed that the abuses 
 existed ; but would not, nevertheless, consent to 
 bind themselves to do any thing more than merely 
 to instruct their flocks in regard to the communion 
 of Saints, and to do away with the existing errors in 
 as far as had been required by the Council of Trent.* 
 
 In the course of this discussion, there occur se- 
 veral very pointed remarks on the personal and local 
 privileges of the clergy; on the Gregorian altars, to 
 which, it was pretended, the power of rescuing a soul 
 from purgatory at will, was attached, &c. We ex- 
 tract a few of the most remarkable passages. 
 
 " An error so very gross as that of the privileged 
 altars, is connected with a great number of others in 
 regard to indulgences. The condescension shown by 
 * Sess. 11. et ibid. p. 188, et seq. 
 
SCIPIO DE UICCI. 241 
 
 the Churcli in granting absolutions, is in reality only 
 a diminution of a part of the punishments pointed 
 out by the canons of the Church : a diminution 
 which, during the first ages, was only granted on 
 account of extraordinary fervour in the penitent, 
 or from a consideration of the impossibility of his 
 undergoing the whole of the punishment which 
 had been imposed on him. That fav^our now passes 
 for a complete remission of sins ; while the absurd 
 and false opinion everywhere prevails, that whoever 
 has departed this life in possession of a plenary in- 
 dulgence, has no sin to expiate, and is received im- 
 mediately into the regions of eternal glory. Under 
 the impression of these and other equally ridiculous 
 and exorbitant ideas of the power of the Pope, both 
 in this and the other world, people have not hesi- 
 tated to declare that the souls of tlie dead were 
 equally capable of receiving the benefit of indul- 
 gences. They can only do so, however, in as far as 
 a pure spirit can become subject to the fastings and 
 humiliations which formed the punishment, and con- 
 stituted the proof of the penitence of the earlier 
 Christians." 
 
 It then goes on to say that the fundamental prin- 
 ciples of religion are not known or recognized, and 
 that they either will not or dare not investigate 
 them. They do not even perceive that the exces- 
 sive number of privileges of which they boast, are a 
 sufficient proof of their being ill founded. 
 
 VOL. I. R 
 
242 MEMOIRS or 
 
 " If it were true, as is stated by some persons, 
 that a soul was delivered from purgatory each time 
 that a privileged mass, whether local or personal, 
 was said, purgatory ought not only to be always 
 empty, but to have a very large sum at its debit, 
 in behalf of the souls who have not yet made their 
 appearance there. In every parish church, by an 
 indulgence of Clement the Thirteenth, the grand 
 altar is privileged. There is always one of the same 
 kind in every church of the regular monks, possessed 
 of seven altars ; and in every other the privilege 
 exists, at least for some particular day in the week. 
 The number of priests possessing the privilege per- 
 sonally is very great. On a moderate calculation, 
 the privileged masses which are said every day in 
 the city and diocese of Florence alone, amount to 
 several hundreds, and consequently exceed, to a 
 considerable degree, the number of persons who 
 die in the course of tlie day. The same may be 
 said to be the case proportionally in all Catholic 
 countries." 
 
 The thirty-seventh article gave rise to the display 
 of much sound argument and erudition on the one 
 side in support of, and of much obstinacy, bad faith, 
 and ignorance, on the other, in opposition to the de- 
 sire which the Grand-duke had expressed of prohi- 
 biting more than one mass from being said at the 
 same time, and of permitting only one altar in the 
 same church. The opposition party would only go 
 
SCIl'IO DE RICCI. 243 
 
 SO far as to promise to abolisli those altars which 
 were useless, or indecorously situated.* 
 
 On the fortieth article, the dispute in regard to 
 the jurisdiction of the curates was renewed. The 
 opposition party would not consent to their possess- 
 ing any, and maintained that they were, and ought 
 to be, entirely dependent on the bishops, f 
 
 The theologians and canonists delivered their 
 opinions in regard to the affair of the Bishop of 
 Chiusi and Pienza. All of them agreed in praise of 
 his pastoral address, which they declared to be fault- 
 less, and in censuring the replies of the Pope, as 
 well as the calumnies, and vague and undefined accu- 
 sations which were preferred against the whole of the 
 episcopal body, the Tuscan Government, &c. The 
 only exception to this general agreement was Doctor 
 Bianucci, who, from the beginning of the sitting of 
 the assembly, had taken a decided part with the op- 
 position, and who pretended that he had discovered 
 some errors in the address of the Bishop of Chiusi, 
 such as a condemnation of the usual practice of the 
 See of Rome, of censuring false or heretical propo- 
 sitions in the mass ; the admission of the divine 
 right of episcopal institution ; the eternal damnation 
 of children who have died unbaptized ; and the at- 
 tempt to pass off the heresy of Jansenism as a chi- 
 mera. :j: 
 
 * Ibid. Sess. 12. p. 208, et seq. t Ibid. p. 219. 
 
 X Ibid. Sess. 13. p. 227, et seq. 
 
 R 2 
 
244 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Ricci took up the defence of the Bishop of ChiusI 
 with much warmth, insisted on the bishops coming 
 to a determination on the matter as soon and as 
 clearly as possible, and on demanding from the See 
 of Rome ample reparation for the injury ; maintain- 
 ing that if its error was once pointed out, the Court 
 of Rome could not fail to yield to their remonstran- 
 ces. The boldness of the Bishop of Pistoia is so 
 much the more remarkable, as he had just received 
 intelligence of the insurrection which had been ex- 
 cited at Prato, in honour of the Girdle of the Holy 
 Virgin. * 
 
 The fifty-fourth article gave rise to a discussion 
 in regard to the books prohibited at Rome, among 
 which were found, by mere accident, says the author 
 whose account we are abridging, some of those which 
 the Grand-duke proposed to form part of the curate's 
 library. The opposition party rejected the whole, 
 after having, however, declared, from sheer pru- 
 dence, that it did not thereby pretend to condemn 
 either the authors or their writings. The argument 
 by which it attempted to justify its conduct in that 
 respect was, that it was much better to give the 
 priests those works only which were exempt from all 
 suspicion, stain, or censure. The three prelates who 
 were of a contrary opinion, accepted the article pro- 
 posed by Leopold without the smallest hesitation or 
 modification. 
 
 * Ibid. p. 235, et seq. 
 
scirio DE Ricci. 245 
 
 Among other books which were pointed out, were 
 the writings of Quesnel, Le Tourneux, &c. to whieh 
 Ricci added those of Nicole, " Tlie Provincial Let- 
 ters," Godeau, Dugiict, &c.* 
 
 The fifty-sixth article was more favourably re- 
 ceived. The bishops agreed generally in the neces- 
 sity of curtailing the privileges of the regular orders, 
 so as to reduce them to the situation of mere coad- 
 jutors of the curates, and to render the possession of 
 their properties dependent on their making them- 
 selves useful in their parishes, instead of injuring the 
 service of the churches, and attracting the people to 
 themselves solely for their own advantage, as had 
 hitherto been the case.f 
 
 The fiftieth article required the convents to be in- 
 dependent of their provincials and generals. That 
 independence appeared to the greater part of the 
 opposition to have Ijeen sufficiently secured by the 
 laws which already existed in full operation in the 
 Grand-duchy. The Bishops of Pistoia and CoUe 
 declared that they preferred, according to Leopold's 
 proposal, that each convent should form a separate 
 community, subject only to the control of the bishop 
 of the diocese in which it was situated. ^ 
 
 The Grand-duke added four new questions to his 
 fifty-seven articles, which furnished matter for some 
 interesting discussions. One of these related to the 
 
 * Ibid. Sess. 14, p. 252, et seq. 
 
 t Ibid. Sess. 15, p. 208, et seq. I Ibid. p. 275, et seq. 
 
24)6 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 baptisteries^ which the opposition party would not 
 consent to grant to all parishes, principally at the in- 
 stigation of the two Archbishops of Florence and 
 Pisa ; another, to the abolition of the mendicity of 
 the religious orders. The opponents of these mea- 
 sures did not deny the inconveniences resulting from 
 the licence which these orders had to beg ; but it 
 exaggerated the impossibility, on the other hand, of 
 providing in a proper manner for the support of the 
 mendicant orders. * 
 
 The important subject of marriage presented one 
 peculiar feature ; namely, that the opposition party 
 would not agree to the nullity, in a civil point of 
 view, of mere promises, whether written or verbal, 
 as the Bishops of Pistoia, Colle, Chiusi, and So- 
 ana, would have wished them. They agreed, how- 
 ever, with these enlightened prelates, in admitting 
 that there was a distinct difference between the 
 contract and the sacrament, and even allowed that 
 the sovereign possessed all authority in regard to the 
 former, f 
 
 The commission which had been appointed to 
 draw up such a plan of ecclesiastical study as would 
 render the doctrine of the Church both sound and 
 uniform, at length delivered the fruits of its labours 
 to the assembly. The disputes in regard to St. 
 Augustin and St. Thomas, and in regard to sys- 
 tems of theology containing propositions injurious to 
 
 * Ibid. Sess. 10, p. 288, et seq. t Ibid. p. 298, et seq. 
 
scirio DE Ricci. 247 
 
 the rights of sovereign princes, were in consequence 
 renewed. * 
 
 The opposition party displayed its ill-will on the 
 subject of useless oaths, which it would not consent 
 to abolish, notwithstanding the powerful reasons 
 urged in behalf of such a measure. f 
 
 This obstinacy brought on a discussion in regard 
 to the oath of vassalage to the Pope taken by the 
 bishops, which the Abbe Tanzini denominates a 
 feudal remnant of Hlldcbrandine poiicy. 
 
 The opposition party had neither the boldness to 
 support, nor to forbid the taking of it in future ; but 
 it found the means of getting out of the dilemma, 
 without compromising itself with the Court of Rome, 
 by saying that it had nothing to suggest to the 
 Grand-duke on that head. The Bishops of Pistoia, 
 Colle, Chiusi, and Soana, implored the Prince to 
 take the matter into serious consideration, and stated 
 their conviction that a simple promise of canonical 
 obedience was all that was required.:}: 
 
 The space of time which intervened between the 
 two sessions having been much longer than usual, 
 the bishops and theologians had svifficient leisure for 
 perusing the memorials already inserted in the acts, 
 for supporting or combating the opinions which they 
 respectively maintained ; a circumstance which na- 
 
 * Ibid. Sess. 17, p. 313, et seq. f Ibid. p. 317, et seq. 
 
 X Ibid. p. 323—325. 
 
248 MEIVIOIIJS OF 
 
 turally gave rise to new replies and refutations, and 
 greatly increased the number of the acts.* 
 
 Tlie plan of a uniforni course of study for the 
 whole of Tuscany was considerably amended by the 
 suggestions of the Bisliops of Pistoia, Colle, and 
 Chiusi : the opposition party would not, however, 
 consent to the abolition of the scholastic method of 
 instruction, which these prelates were anxious to 
 extirpate as an invention of the dark ages, and to 
 substitute for it the Scriptures, tradition, and the 
 fathers. Neither would they depart from the ne- 
 cessity of employing the writings of St. Thomas for 
 the interpretation of those of St. Augustin.f 
 
 Several memorials from the synod of Pistoia to 
 the Grand-duke were transmitted by the latter for 
 examination to the assembly. Notwitlistanding the 
 opinion of the Prince, which on the whole was fa- 
 vourable to them, the assembly received them very 
 coldly. Among other matters, it refused a request 
 in one of them to refer all the fetes to the Sunday 
 following the day of their occurrence, to abolish the 
 necessity of abstaining from labour on these days, 
 and on the evenings preceding fasts, along with that 
 of attending mass not only on these days, but also 
 on the festival days which had been abolished, but 
 which were still attended with that obligation. 
 
 Another memorial contained the project of a ge- 
 neral reform of the religious orders of every descrip- 
 
 * Ibid. Sess. 18, p. 326, ct scq. f Ibid. p. 337, et seq. 
 
scu'ic) i)i: iiicci. 249 
 
 tion, which Ricci was desirous of uniting under one 
 single institute, namely, that of St. Benedict. In 
 that case there would only have been one convent, 
 always situated in the country, for each town, and 
 containing, witli the exception of one or two priests 
 required for the administration of the sacraments, only 
 lay monks. Tlie opposition party would not, however, 
 agree on any terms to the execution of that plan.* 
 
 The nineteenth and last session was held on the 
 5th June, 1787. f 
 
 The Grand-duke gave orders that the acts of the 
 assembly should remain open during eight days, for 
 the purpose of affording an opportunity of inserting 
 replies to the articles already deposited, and espe- 
 cially to those which had been so latterly 4 He 
 gave audience to the assembly in a body, and tes- 
 tified to it his vexation at the malignant spirit with 
 which it had misrepresented his intentions, and the 
 selfishness which had induced it to reject his pro- 
 posals ; at the little harmony and concord which 
 existed among the bishops, and at the spirit of pre- 
 judice and party which had actuated them, &c.|| 
 
 The Prince afterwards felt himself obliged to pro- 
 hibit in his states the "Journal of Rome," (Diario,) 
 the " Projet de Bourg-Fo?itaine" and other periodi- 
 cal and defamatory publications, which, " after being 
 comj^osed at Rome, were disseminated throughout the 
 
 * Ibid, p. 350, c't seq. t Ibid. p. 355. 
 
 X Ibid. p. 357. II Ibid. p. 358. 
 
250 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 whole of Tuscany, " for the purpose," as the com- 
 piler of the acts of the assembly states, " of exciting 
 sedition, and increasing the superstition which gave 
 birth to it."* 
 
 That writer terminates his volume with some very 
 appropriate and just reflections on the progress of 
 knowledge ; a progress which had taken place much 
 against the wish of the assembly itself, which, al- 
 though determined to delay the intellectual revolu- 
 tion which was operating, as much as possible, could 
 not prevent itself from coming up to that which had 
 already taken place. In fact, although there was a 
 predominant party inimical to reform, many reso- 
 lutions were passed, which, a century before, would 
 have been considered as so many heresies. Without 
 paying the least attention to the Court of Rome, the 
 studies of the regular clergy were distinctly pointed 
 out and determined ; itself subjected to the control 
 of the ordinaries, and the principle of its yielding 
 obedience and rendering itself useful in the spuitual 
 duty of the parishes, was formally recognized. A uni- 
 form system of ecclesiastical instruction, for which St. 
 Augustin was chosen as the model, was established ; 
 the reform of the missals and breviaries was resolved 
 on ; all taxes for administering spiritual aid were 
 abolished, and the luxury, dissipation, and gross 
 irregularities of the clergy, openly condemned. f 
 
 * Ibid. p. 359. t Ibid. p. 359, et scq. 
 
SCIPIO DE IIICCI. 251 
 
 (J II. The second volume of tlie Collection of the 
 Acts, is entitled " Ecclesiastical points compiled and 
 transmitted by his Royal Highness to all the Arch- 
 bishops and Bishops of Tuscany, with the replies of 
 these prelates :" Florence, 1787.* The frontispiece 
 of the book is an engraving, representing the Grand- 
 duke, supported by Renown, and surrounded by 
 allegorical representations of Justice, Commerce, 
 Plenty, and Time. Below is a genius holding in his 
 hand an open book, on which is inscribed in large 
 characters the word Encyclopedia. The engraving 
 is stated to have been designed and executed at 
 Rome. 
 
 The copy of the work to which we have had access 
 is the one which belonged to the Bishop of Pistoia, 
 and which still exists in the library of his heirs. 
 
 The fifty- seven points proposed by the Prince 
 relate to the necessity of holding diocesan synods ; 
 to the right of the curates to sit and vote in them ; 
 to the indispensable necessity of reforming the mis- 
 sals and breviaries ; to the abolition of useless oaths ; 
 to reclaiming the authority of the bishops which had 
 been usurped by the Court of Rome, especially the 
 power of granting dispensations, and more particu- 
 larly dispensations in matters relating to marriage ; 
 to the uniformity of doctrine and study according to 
 
 * " Punti Ecclesiastici compilati c trasmessi da sua altessa 
 reale a tutti gli archievescovi^" &c. 
 
252 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 the writings of St. Aiigustin ; to the prohibition to 
 ordain priests to sinecures, to permit their receiving 
 the tonsure and being admitted to the rank of a 
 clergyman before tlie age of eighteen, and to crowd 
 tlie churches and altars with the children beloneing 
 to the choir, as had formerly been the case ; to the 
 absolute necessity of ordaining none but priests 
 worthy of being intrusted with the ministry ; to tlie 
 abolition of begging for saying masses ; to the im- 
 propriety of one individual holding and doing the 
 duty of several benefices ; to the necessity of attach- 
 ing each incumbent to a particular church in the 
 district of his benefice ; to the suppression of private 
 oratories ; to prohibiting the priests from hunting, 
 frequenting inns, coffee-houses, theatres, gaming- 
 houses, &c. trading, employing themselves in com- 
 mercial speculations, &c. ; to a reduction of the 
 extravagant luxury of the temples, and of the thea- 
 trical pomp of festivals and religious ceremonies ; to 
 prohibiting the celebration of more than one mass in 
 the same church ; to the examination of all relics, 
 denominated sacred, and the elimination of those 
 which were false ; to the unveiling of covered im- 
 ages ; to the instruction to be given to the people 
 relative to the communion of saints, and to suffi*affe 
 in behalf of the dead ; to the duties of curates ; to 
 exhorting the people in the language of the coun- 
 try on the Gospel for each day, and the explanation 
 
scirio DE Ricci. 253 
 
 of the Latin prayers which are repeated ; to the 
 books to be furnished by the Government to the 
 curates ; to the su])mission of the regular monks and 
 nuns to the curates and bishops ; and to the inva- 
 Hdity in Tuscany of orders, permissions, dispensations 
 from Rome, unless accompanied by the Evequatur 
 of Government.* 
 
 The first answer is from the Archbishop of Flo- 
 rence, Martini, the chief of the opposition party in 
 the national ecclesiastical assembly. That prelate 
 principally combats the proposal for correcting the 
 missals and breviaries, the administration of the sa- 
 craments in the common language of the country ; 
 the validity of dispensations granted by the ordina- 
 ries, all innovations tending to diminish the solemnity 
 and splendour of the external part of religious wor- 
 ship, or the number of priests, clerks, or festivals, f 
 
 The answer of Sciarelli, Bishoj) of CoUe, and one 
 of the three prelates who favoured a thorough reform, 
 follows next. He approves of all the proposals of 
 the Grand-duke ; advises following the example of 
 Ricci after his council, both as to the nature and the 
 mode of the reform to be effected ; quotes, as one of 
 the oaths which ought to be abolished, that which is 
 taken to the See of Rome at the time of consecra- 
 tion ; considers the ordinary bishops possessed of suf- 
 ficient power, without having recourse to the Po})e, 
 
 * Ibid. p. 4—30. t Ibid. p. 32, et seq. 
 
254 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 to govern their dioceses, to grant dispensations (jure 
 propria) in all lawful cases, &c. ; shows a disposition 
 to abolish all ceremonies, processions, fetes, &c. and 
 to eject all images which might have been adjudged 
 dangerous or useless ; adds several books to those 
 which had been selected, to form the curates' library, 
 and among others, the works of authors accused of 
 Jansenism ; and proposes the suppression of some of 
 the very few convents existing in his diocese. * 
 
 Mancini, Bishop of Fiesole, and one of the most 
 violent of the opposition party, follows next. Before 
 giving his answers, he puts forth several general 
 principles, in which he declares all reform dangerous 
 and unlawful. It would be highly culpable, says he, 
 to attempt to re-establish the ancient discipHne of 
 the Church, " by virtue of which, the dioceses had 
 no distinct boundary, the priests were not obliged to 
 lead a life of celibacy, and lived from day to day on 
 the oiTerings of their flocks, and the communion was 
 administered in both kinds." f 
 
 He is also of opinion, that it would be excessively 
 ridiculous to deny the right of the Pope to the uni- 
 versal superintendence and control of the Church, 
 since the Protestants themselves had confessed that 
 he was the true basis of the stability of the Cathohc 
 rehgion. " The sole aim of those writers who at- 
 tack the supremacy of the Pope," says he, " is to 
 sever every political and religious tie, and to destroy, 
 * Ibid. p. .51, et seq. t Ibid. pp. 73, 74. 
 
SCIPIO DE RICCI. 255 
 
 in the first place, the authority of the Popes Ijy the 
 agency of crowned heads, and in the next, to over- 
 turn the thrones of sovereigns themselves, by means 
 of the united power of the people.* 
 
 In his answers, Mancini reduces almost to nothing 
 the authority of the diocesan synod, deprives the 
 curates of all right to vote, rejects the proposal for 
 correcting the breviaries, and the use of the vulgar 
 tongue in the liturgy ; will not hear of the bishops 
 reclaiming any of their rights which might have de- 
 volved to the See of Rome ; defends all religious 
 festivals, the pomp of the churches, and the splen- 
 dour of the images ; rejects from the list of books 
 which had been proposed, all those which were sus- 
 pected of a leaning to Jansenism, and substitutes 
 for them others, which he reckons better ; testifies 
 great dread of intermeddling with the privileges 
 and exemptions of the monks, &c.f 
 
 Bishop Ricci approves of every thing which had 
 been proposed; quotes the synod of Jansenists at 
 Utrecht in 1763, as a model for the Tuscan bishops 
 in their diocesan synods, to which their curates ought 
 to be admitted as judges ; and advises the adoption 
 of the greatest caution " against the intrigues of the 
 Court of Rome, which will make use of the monks, 
 or the Nuncio, to overturn the plans of those synods." 
 He expresses his hope that the bishops will not so 
 far forget either their duties, or their rights, as to 
 * Ibid. p. 80, et seq. t Ibid. p. 82, et seq. 
 
^56 :\rEMOiRs of 
 
 request authority from the Holy See for granting dis- 
 pensations, or to square their conduct, in condemn- 
 ing books, by the Index of prohibited books published 
 at Rome — an Index whose authority is not recog- 
 nized in Tuscany. Finally, he requests the immedi- 
 ate assistance of Government in extirpating all abuses 
 and superstitious practices, proposes several books, 
 the greater part of them prohibited, to be given to 
 the curates, &c.* 
 
 The answers of Fazzi, Bishop of S. Miniato, may 
 be easily guessed, from his belonging decidedly to 
 the opposition.! 
 
 Those of Castagati, Bishop of Borgo S. Sepol- 
 chro, were of the same nature ; only he was more 
 moderate in his disposition than his colleague, and 
 displayed more timidity than fanaticism.:]: 
 
 Next come the answers of Franseschi, Archbishop 
 of Pisa, the most fanatical and the most intractable 
 of the whole body. He carefully keeps out of view, 
 or openly condemns, all measures tending to diminish 
 in any way the rights or pretensions, the privileges 
 and prerogatives, of the Court of Rome, and its usur- 
 pations of the rights of the bishops ; the encroach- 
 ments of the latter on those of the curates ; the 
 blind respect of the people towards rehgious preju- 
 dices ; the power and wealth of the clergy ; the su- 
 perstition of their flocks, &c. § 
 
 * Ibid. p. 133, et seq. f Ibid. p. 156, et seq. 
 I Ibid, p. 185, et seq. § Ibid. p. 236, et seq. 
 
SCIPIO DE RICCI. 257 
 
 Borghesi, Archbishop of Siena, also shows him- 
 self a zealous opponent. Among other things, he 
 utters some exclamations of regret at the boldness 
 which could have prompted any one to insert in the 
 list of books for the curates, the writings of Quesnel, 
 and takes occasion to pronounce a pompous eulogy 
 on the Bull Unigcnitiis, which had condemned him.* 
 
 Pannilini, Bishop of Chiusi and Pienza, joins 
 frankly in the principles professed by the Govern- 
 ment. He dissuades the Grand-duke from assem- 
 bling his bishops, with whose opposition to his max- 
 ims, and attachment to prejudices of every descrip- 
 tion, he professes to be well acquainted ; and gives 
 as his opinion, that they ought not to be permitted to 
 hold diocesan synods, except with the assistance of 
 two deputies from the Government, and on condi- 
 tion that they should adopt for their model, a synod 
 which had already been approved, such, for example, 
 as that of Pistoia. He distinguishes clearly, in the 
 affair of marriage, the nuptial contract from the 
 nuptial benediction ; " Jesus Christ," says he, " raised 
 the former to the dignity of a sacrament, although 
 in the quality of a civil contract it always remained 
 under the control of the princes, and of the laws of 
 the different countries professing the Catholic reli- 
 gion, and was only withdrawn from that control since 
 the time when the Church thought itself obliged to 
 add the nuptial benediction to the civil formalities 
 
 * Ibid. p. 280, et seq. 
 A^OL. I. S 
 
258 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 required by Government — and ivkic/i alone constitute 
 the sacrament of marriage. — ^" Nevertheless," adds 
 he, " those who neglect to conform to the ecclesias- 
 tical discipline established on this point, are, notwith- 
 standing tlieir being married, guilty of a very blame- 
 able action." 
 
 The Bishop of Chiusi, in deciding on the different 
 points submitted to him, always embraces the views 
 of the Grand -duke, and sometimes even goes beyond 
 them. * 
 
 The answers of Franci, Bishop of Grossetto, and 
 one of the most unreasonable of the opposition party, 
 are scarcely any thing else than an apology for all 
 the abuses, all the superstitious practices, and all the 
 usurpations of the Court of Rome, and of the bishops. 
 That prelate forgets himself so far as to pretend 
 that the suppression of the society for liberating 
 souls from purgatory, and of the practice of begging 
 for their support, had given rise to doubts in the 
 minds of the faithful as to the very existence of pur- 
 gatory itself, f 
 
 Vanucci, Bishop of Mossa and Populonia, agrees 
 in sentiment with the opposition party. X 
 
 Santo, Bishop of Soana, wholly devoted to the 
 principles professed by the Augustinians or Janse- 
 nists, and by the canonists or politicians, approves 
 and even extends Leopold's plans of reform, especi- 
 
 * Ibid. p. 310, et seq. f Ibid. p. 339, et seq. 
 X Ibid. p. 359, et seq. 
 
SCIPIO DE RICCI. 259 
 
 ally those for erecting in Tuscany an independent 
 national churcli. He insists with much earnestness 
 on the necessity of reforming the " breviary, which is 
 so full of fabulous and foolish stories ;" and proposes 
 the tenth synod of St. Charles Boromeus, and the 
 synod of Jansenists at Utrecht in 1763, as the best 
 models for the diocesan synods of Tuscany. " The 
 privileges of the Court of Rome," he denominates, 
 in one part, as " constantly pernicious," and in ano- 
 ther, confesses that " the books proposed by the 
 Grand-duke for the curates are undoubtedly pos- 
 sessed of merit, whatever the partisans of the Court of 
 Rome may say to the contrary ;" but requests some 
 little indulgence for his own diocese, which fell in 
 with the jurisdiction of the Pope, was consequently 
 infested with great prejudice, and in which " a book 
 prohibited by the Court of Rome was held in the 
 utmost abomination,"* 
 
 The Bishop of Arezzo, Marani, opposes the schemes 
 of Leopold, but as it seems through prudence, policy, 
 and timidity, as he gives us to understand in the gen- 
 eral considerations with which he has prefaced his 
 answers. Sudden and unexpected reforms would, in 
 his opinion, disturb the consciences of the simple ; 
 and perhaps by that means the tranquillity of the 
 state.f 
 
 Alexander Ciribi, Bishop of Cortona, and some- 
 what of a Jansenist, joins the opposition party, but 
 
 * Ibid. p. 389, et seq. + Ibid. p. 409, et seq. 
 
 s2 
 
260 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 with great moderation. He acknowledges the ne- 
 cessity of several reforms, and agrees to the execu- 
 tion of some of them.* 
 
 The most complete and decided opposition was 
 expressed in the answers of Pecci, Bishop of Mon- 
 taleino. His general objection to all the proposed 
 reforms is, " that the doctrines which cu'ciilate under 
 the garb of true piety are the most pernicious, be- 
 cause they tend to overthrow, by little and little, 
 the Christian religion itself."| 
 
 Franzesi, Bishop of Montepulciano, was the most 
 obstinate defender of the Court of Rome, and the 
 most zealous enemy of all change or innovation in 
 the shape of reform. Some idea may be formed of 
 this from the following passages of a letter which he 
 addressed to the Grand-duke, at the time of sending 
 his answers to the fifty-seven ecclesiastical points. 
 
 In that letter he describes Leopold as being per- 
 sonally very religious, but surrounded with a set of 
 bishops who had shamelessly introduced the most 
 pernicious projects, and who scrupled not to make a 
 tool of the Prince for inflicting on religion the most 
 fatal blows, with the view of entirely overturning it. 
 " They have almost succeeded in carrying their de- 
 signs into effect in Tuscany," says he, " where they 
 have introduced heresy and schism, which are slowly 
 destroying some dioceses, and where they support 
 
 * Ibid. p. 456, et seq. t Ibid. p. 491, et seq. 
 
scirio DE mcci. 261 
 
 that party which, by and by, will separate the 
 Grand- duchy from the Church of Rome. 
 
 " They have already, my Lord," says he, " suc- 
 ceeded in making the Tuscan church take several 
 steps towards complete independence. — Would to 
 God that my fears were vain ! But in the mean 
 time we see monks and nuns reduced to a secular 
 state by the sole authority of a bishop. — They are, 
 however, in the eyes of the Almighty, and ought 
 ever to be considered by the Church what they 
 really are, apostates, perjurers to God, and rebels to 
 the Church." 
 
 He next proceeds to make several violent attacks 
 on the changes introduced into the calendars (calen- 
 driers) of different dioceses, on all licences, and 
 especially on matrimonial dispensations granted by 
 those only holding the rank and authority of bishop. 
 *' And what is the consequence of these things ? 
 Why, that in the dominions of your Royal Highness 
 there are apostates and rebels to God, persons who 
 keep concubines, and who live in that state of dam- 
 nation, without the smallest remorse." 
 
 He next grows very warm in attacking what he 
 calls the " schismatic Synod of Utrecht," which one 
 party, says he, praised in the highest degree, and 
 endeavoured to disseminate copies of its acts among 
 the people. Speaking of the " Ecclesiastical Annals 
 of Florence," — " I protest," says he, " before God, that 
 they are sufficient to inspire any true Catholic with 
 
262 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 horror, and that they are a scandal to the whole 
 Church." 
 
 He complains in the bitterest terms of the sup- 
 pression of the convents. " It is disgusting, my 
 Lord," adds he, " to hear the enemies of religion and 
 of Jesus Christ exclaiming every where with all their 
 might, that the monastic orders are useless." 
 
 He endeavours to prove that the Jansenism of 
 Tuscany, which he terms the growing heresy, was 
 making every imaginable effort, as, he pretends, the 
 heresies which preceded it had done, to establish 
 " natural religion, which, to say the truth," adds he, 
 " is only a brutal deism. Now, my Lord, this is the 
 end aimed at by all these new deists, who have, by 
 deceiving them, contrived to glide in among the Ca- 
 tholics : their sole aim is, to degrade the church of 
 Tuscany to a level with the deism of Holland, of 
 England, and of a great part of Germany." 
 
 The Bishop of Montepulciano, in his answers to 
 the fifty-seven points, instead of consenting to the 
 correction of the breviary and Romish missals, which, 
 in his opinion, have no occasion to be altered, im- 
 plores the Grand-duke to give orders for re-establish- 
 ing them in their ancient form in all the dioceses in 
 which, to the great scandal of true believers, they 
 had attempted to reform them. He represents the 
 doctrine of St. Augustin as extremely dangerous, 
 since " Luther, Calvin, and, in the course of the 
 present century, Jansenius, with all his adherents. 
 
SCIPIO DE RICCI. 263 
 
 have erroneously pretended that their false doctrines 
 were founded on the writings of that father of the 
 Church." These innovators, says he, easily convert 
 his doctrines to the worst purposes, " especially 
 those relating to grace and free-will, whenever they 
 wish to deprive man of that same free-will, in order 
 to set down every thing to the account of grace." 
 He proscribes even the celebrated work of Muratori, 
 " Devotion regulated," that writer having, in his 
 opinion, shown himself, in that work, " equally defi- 
 cient in talent and in genius." 
 
 It may easily be conceived, that, after condemn- 
 ing Muratori, he does not hesitate to threaten with 
 damnation " all the rash projectors and enemies of 
 the Catholic religion, who have had the effrontery to 
 propose the reading of books prohibited by the Court 
 of Rome. The " Moral Reflections of Quesnel,"— 
 " in which," says he, " the Church by a decided and 
 unalterable sentence, has borne testimony to an hun- 
 dred and one heresies, errors, and dangerous opinions," 
 &c. ; the treatises of Tamburini, " a declared enemy 
 of the Holy See ;" the " Ecclesiastical History of 
 Racine," " which fills the mind with false and mis- 
 taken prejudices against the See of Rome," &c. 
 are in his eyes what he terms the most venomous 
 books. 
 
 Next follow, towards the end of the volume, the 
 replies of Vincenti, Bishop of Pescia, and Bonaccini, 
 Bishop of Volterra, both of the opposition party, but 
 
264 imi:moirs of 
 
 much more moderate, especially in the manner of 
 expressing their opinions.* 
 
 § III. Another volume contains the " Critical ex- 
 amination of the Letter published under the name of 
 Monsignor Franzesi, Bishop of Montepulciano, in 
 reply to several ecclesiastical points addressed by 
 Government to the bishops of the Grand- duchy, for 
 the purpose of procuring a statement of their opi- 
 nions upon them :" Florence, 1787. f 
 
 This letter had been pubHshed a short time be- 
 fore the opening of the assembly. It coincides en- 
 tirely with the principles professed by the bishop 
 whose name it bears. We are bound, however, to 
 believe that it was not written by him, as he signed 
 a formal declaration to that effect, authenticated and 
 confirmed by an oatli on the 6th June, 17874 
 
 The author of the critical examination openly 
 espouses the maxims put forth by the Government. 
 He appears to have been what was then accounted 
 a canonist, or perhaps a Jansenist ; he lauds to the 
 highest degree the appeal writers {^cr'ivabis appelans), 
 and censures, with considerable bitterness, " the 
 error of those Popes who unjustly condenmed the 
 Jansenius', the Arnaulds, the Mercassells, the Ques- 
 ncls, the Deacon Paris," &c. 
 
 He shows that the obstinacy of his adversaries in 
 rejecting the doctrine of St. Augustin, as the only 
 
 * Ibid. p. 532, et, seq. 
 
 t " Esame criticodella lettera publicata/' &c. \ Ibid. p. 4(i— 7. 
 
sciPio DE iicici. 265 
 
 true doctrine, arose from a dread of being put to the 
 blusli, by being obliged to confess the orthodoxy of 
 the Port-RoyaUsts, of the true believers of the Church 
 of Utrecht, who had been maltreated as fanatics and 
 heretics. 
 
 " The heresies of Jansenius and Quesnel," says he, 
 " only exist in the brains of fanatics. The famous 
 work of Corneille Jansenius does not contain the 
 five celebrated propositions ; the work entitled ' Mo- 
 ral Reflections' is truly orthodox and Catholic in all 
 its positions. Many of the propositions of Baius, in 
 the opinion of theologians of the greatest merit, were 
 condemned rather on account of the crude manner 
 in which they were expressed, and the sense in which 
 they were interpreted in the schools, than on account 
 of being really erroneous."* A little farther on, he 
 calls Quesnel " a learned and pious man," and his 
 Moral Reflections " a golden work." 
 
 § IV. Four volumes are entitled " Acts of the 
 assembly of the Archbishops and Bishops of Tus- 
 cany, held at Florence in 1787. "t 
 
 The first contains the " Protocol of the resolutions 
 adopted by these prelates in regard to the different 
 articles proposed by his Royal Highness for their 
 examination ;" Florence, 17874 It is in substance 
 
 * De Potter has a note of some length in regard to the five 
 points of Jansenius, which contains nothing new on the subject, 
 and may therefore be fairly left out. 
 
 t " Atti deir assemblea degli Arcivescovi." 
 
 \ " Tomo 1" che contiene il protocollo," &c. 
 
266 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 the same as the history of the assembly by the 
 Abb^ Tanzini, which we have already abridged. 
 
 At the end of the nineteenth and last session there 
 occurs a declaration by the Bishops of Chiusi, Pis- 
 toia, and Colle ; from which it appears that their 
 signature at the end of each session, only testifies 
 their assent to the correctness of the proch vey^bal, 
 and by no means an approval of what had been said 
 and done contrary to their opinion, which in general 
 was opposed to that held by the majority of the 
 prelates.* 
 
 § V. The second and third volumes, both bearing 
 the same title, contains " The Addresses and Memo- 
 rials presented by these same prelates, forming a 
 supplement to the acts ;" Florence, 1787.t 
 
 They contain the papers already alluded to, in 
 regard to a plurality of votes and the necessity of 
 unanimity ; those on the right of priests to a con- 
 sultative or deliberative voice in ecclesiastical assem- 
 blies; on the primitive rights of bishops; on ora- 
 tories and domestic chapels ; on the multiplicity of 
 altars ; on pronouncing the canon of the mass in a 
 low tone of voice ; on the veiling of images ; on 
 uniformity of doctrine, and on ecclesiastical studies 
 according to the writings of St. Augustin, &c. 
 
 It is proper to remark that the synod of the Jan- 
 senists of Utrecht is quoted by the Archbishops of 
 
 * Ibid. p. 246. \ '* Tomo 2" (or Tonio 3") clie contienc," &c. 
 
SCIPIO DE UICCI. 267 
 
 Florence and Pisa, and seven bishops of the oppo- 
 sition party, in a memoir in favour of the supreme 
 authority of the Pope over the bishops, who are 
 only, it says, the servants of the Holy See. 
 
 " It appears," says the memoir, " that we must 
 henceforth regard the papal power as one which has 
 been recognized at all times, in all places, and among 
 all nations. I pretend not to aver that the mem- 
 bers constituting the second provincial synod of 
 Utrecht, submit to it in reality, but at all events 
 they show a strong desire to do so in the doctrines 
 which they profess ; — doctrines which want nothing 
 to be in perfect harmony with those which we 
 profess, except to deduce from them the conse- 
 quences which naturally flow from them."* The 
 Bishops of Pistoia, Chiusi, and Colle, take advantage 
 of this passage to make several severe remarks in 
 their reply. 
 
 " The Bishop of Pistoia and Prato," say they, 
 " has seen with the highest satisfaction that in the 
 above memoir, the authority of the synod of Utrecht 
 is brought forw ard to support the divine institution 
 of the primacy. He glories in maintaining exactly 
 the same opinions which are held by that illustrious 
 church, which, although agitated for a long time, 
 has not only maintained the Catholic faith entire, 
 but has not even for a moment departed, in any one 
 
 * Ibid. Tomo 2, No. 53, p. 466. 
 
268 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 point, from its attachment to the head of theChm'ch. 
 The undersigned bishop, who admires the conduct of 
 these virtuous Catholics, and who constantly puts 
 up his prayers to the Almighty for their peace and 
 tranquillity, considers it his duty to adopt the same 
 sentiments of respect which are professed by them to 
 be due to the head of the Church, and the spirit of 
 union, submission, and veneration, which every Ca- 
 tholic ought invariably to preserve towards the 
 centre of unity, towards the first of pastors, towards 
 the officiating head of the Church, and towards the 
 sovereign pontiff." * 
 
 The Bishop of Montepulciano, in a memoir against 
 the principal altar, {I'autel unique,) had remarked 
 that the Grand-duke himself, who proposed the 
 adoption of that measure, was then building churches 
 with several altars. In their reply, the Bishops of 
 Chiusi, Pistoia, and Colle, ask him, " What conclu- 
 sion, then, would the theologian draw from this vague 
 and bold assertion ? That the sovereign has con- 
 tradicted himself, or changed his mind on the sub- 
 ject ? It would be sacrilege to dare to suspect it."f 
 
 This passage demonstrates the fatal consequences 
 of an opposition imbued with the spirit of fanaticism. 
 People who s(^e its folly, are obliged, in order to 
 make head against it, to emlirace the absurdity of 
 ultra-monarchy ; and the people consequently become 
 
 * Ibid. No. 59, p. 483. f Ujitl- Tom. 3, No. 80, p. 90. 
 
SCIPIO DE IIICCI. 269 
 
 the sport and the victiin either of its priests or of its 
 government. 
 
 In another memoir, Monsignor de Vecchi relates 
 that, being Vicar-general at Siena, he had made 
 a calculation of the masses celebrated in consefpience 
 of obligations arising from pious legacies ; and that 
 they amounted to ninety-nine thousand.* 
 
 § VI. The fourtli volume contains " An Examina- 
 tion of the Pastoral Address of the Bishop of Chiusi 
 and Pienza, on several of the most important truths 
 of religion." Florence, 1 787-1 
 
 The greatest fault which the opposition party 
 mention and condemn in the Avis which they pre- 
 sented to the Grand-duke, is that Bishop Pannilini 
 denominated Jansenism " a fantastic and imaginary 
 heresy ;" that he proposed for the reading of his 
 clergy, several books which had been prohibited at 
 Rome ; that he had advanced propositions which 
 had been anathematized in the Bull UNio'e7utu6' 
 which had been issued against Quesnel, and in those* 
 which had been directed against Ba'ius and Janse- 
 nius, &c. The whole party uses every effort to clear 
 the Pope of the imputation of having insulted the 
 whole episcopal body of Tuscany in his briefs ; and 
 the greater part endeavour to prove that he did 
 not show more than a proper degree of severity 
 against the Bishop of Chiusi. 
 
 * Ibid. No. 43, p. 177. 
 
 t Tomo 4° " L'Esame della istruzione pastorale," &c. 
 
270 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 The Bishop of Soana approves of the pastoral 
 address. Those of Pistoia and CoUe express similar 
 opinions in regard to it, and at the same time con- 
 demn both the Pope and his briefs, which they 
 consider to be highly insulting and injurious to the 
 whole of Tuscany, and particularly to the episcopal 
 body and the sovereign. 
 
 These documents are followed by a long defence 
 on the part of the Bishop of Chiusi, against the pon- 
 tifical briefs, and in reply to the censures of the 
 fourteen Tuscan bishops ; also by a dissertation on 
 these briefs, which, along with the ridiculous pre- 
 tensions of the Court of Rome, are criticized and 
 refuted with much force of argument, and exposed 
 with considerable effect. 
 
 § VII. Finally, there is a volume entitled " A 
 defence against the censure of the fourteen bishops 
 of Tuscany, of certain books published at Pistoia." 
 Florence, 1787.* 
 
 The first article which occurs in the book is the 
 letter of Archbishop) Martini, who addresses the 
 censure alluded to, to the Grand-duke ; then the 
 censure itself; and finally the apology or defence. 
 The work which is most severely handled is that 
 entitled " The collection of pamphlets relating to 
 Religion."! The reason of its being condemned was, 
 that it was entirely composed of the writings of 
 
 * " Apologia contro la censuru fatta da' quattordici," &c. 
 t '' Raccolta d' opuscoli iiiteressanti alia religione." 
 
scirio DE Ricci. 271 
 
 Jansenists and Appellants ; that it mentioned with 
 some degree of approbation the Nouvellcs Ecclc- 
 siastlfjucs, and boasted of the miracles of the Abbe 
 Paris. Ricci praises all these works to the highest 
 pitch ; and, what is more astonishing, boasts of the 
 wonderful power of the cimititre of St. Medard, 
 and of the extraordinary conversions which had 
 been effected by it — particularly that of the Che- 
 valier Folard. He does not express the smallest 
 doubt of the authenticity of the miracles said to 
 have been performed by an appellant of the name 
 of Rousse, or of those which Barckmans, the Jan- 
 senist Archbishop of Utrecht, who is still alive, 
 had performed in favour of a certain lady named 
 La Fosse, &c. 
 
 § VIII. The opposition which Leopold had en- 
 countered from the majority of the higher order of 
 the clergy, at the time of the ecclesiastical assembly 
 of Florence, ought to be set down to the account 
 of corruption and knavery, rather than to that of 
 ignorance. 
 
 The Prince, on his accession to the throne, had 
 adopted every possible means for diffusing informa- 
 tion and knowledge among his subjects, and parti- 
 cularly among those who are intrusted with the 
 guidance and instruction of others. 
 
 In 1770, he ordered to be begun the publication 
 of a work entitled " A Collection of Writings rela- 
 tive to the dependence of Ecclesiastical jurisdiction 
 
272 MEMOI-RS OF 
 
 on Civil authority."* The work contained all the 
 reports, memoirs, and consultations, composed in dif- 
 ferent Catholic countries by order of their govern- 
 ments, with the view of turning the lights of reason 
 and philosophy to the maxims and conduct of the 
 clergy, and of setting bounds to the insatiable 
 cupidity and inextinguishable thirst after power, 
 which the Court of Rome had always manifested, 
 and which had proved an invincible obstacle to the 
 political, moral, and religious improvement both of 
 the people and of their sovereigns. 
 
 We shall quote from this collection what appears 
 to us to be most in unison with the principles of 
 Ricci, of the canonist bishops of his time, of Leopold 
 himself, and of the enlightened men of his age, who 
 were desirous of seeing, in the homage rendered to 
 the Almighty, a guarantee for the practice of all the 
 social virtues, — and in the ministers of religion itself, 
 the comforters of man, the messengers of peace, the 
 friends of good order and humanity. 
 
 § IX. In the defence pronounced at Naples by 
 the Counsellor Joseph RafTaele, on Marcli 26th 1770, 
 of Cecile Fargo, who had been accused of sorcery, 
 we read as follows: — 
 
 " The Christians yielded the most complete obedi- 
 ence to the civil authority, whilst they were weak. 
 As soon, however, as they felt themselves less depen- 
 
 •"Collezione di scritture di regia Giurisdizione." Firenze, 
 1770. 
 
SCIPIO DE RTCCI. 273 
 
 dent on its protection, that is to say, when tliey he- 
 came more numerous, and more wealthy, tliey still 
 professed, it is true, fidelity to the civil authority, 
 and allowed that it had a right to exact it from 
 them ; but they used this profession of humility and 
 obedience, merely for the purpose of increasing those 
 immunities and privileges which inconsiderate princes 
 were so imprudent as to offer to them, and which 
 ended in releasing them from the performance of 
 every duty towards society, or its members. 
 
 " When the world became Christian throughout, 
 the people ceased to enjoy any prerogatives, or privi- 
 leges, and became what the mass of the population 
 of heathen countries had formerly been, and what 
 the mass of the people in most countries still is — the 
 useful and energetic, but despised and oppressed 
 portion of society. The only chosen and privileged 
 class, the only one that enjoyed the pleasures and 
 comforts of life, was the clergy, which dictated its 
 own privileges, but recognized the performance of 
 no duties. 
 
 " The transference of the seat of empire to Con- 
 stantinople was the origin of the power of the west- 
 ern clergy, and of the Bishop of Rome, the most 
 powerful prelate in the Latin Church. The heresy 
 of the Iconoclasts was adroitly employed by him to 
 render himself entirely independent of the Greek 
 government. 
 
 " The obligations contracted towards the See of 
 
 VOL. I. T 
 
274 MEIVIOIRS OF 
 
 Rome by tlie Carlovingian race, which liad been es- 
 tablished, or rather legitimated in the possession of 
 the throne of France by the Bishop of Rome, who 
 had not as yet the hardihood to call himself its sove- 
 reign, along with the gratitude evinced by the same 
 race in return for the empire of the West, which it 
 soon after received at his hands, rendered the Popes 
 formidable, first to the Lombards, who were masters 
 of Italy, and next to the Emperors of the West 
 themselves. 
 
 " Finally, Gregory the Twelfth mounted the Pa- 
 pal throne, and reduced into a regular system the 
 whole of that hitherto unshapely mass of privileges 
 and exemptions, which had been slowly constructed, 
 partly on the ignorance and superstition of the people, 
 and partly on the weakness and cowardice of the 
 different governments. Instead of considering, or 
 allowing others to consider, these prerogatives and 
 privileges as derived from the good-will of those de- 
 vout emperors who had been recognized as their 
 sovereigns, the Popes boldly laid claim to them as 
 original and incontestable rights ; became bi/ divine 
 right what it was now impossible to prevent them 
 from becoming ; and even carried their unfounded 
 and ridiculous pretensions so far as to grasp at abso- 
 lute universal empire. The two Councils of Lateran 
 sanctioned this gigantic system, by the adherence, 
 believed to be infallible, of deputies from the whole 
 Church, who, they said, had been assembled in the 
 
SCIPIO DE RICCI. 275 
 
 name and by tlic authority of the Holy Spirit. From 
 that period, whoever ventured to attack either the 
 persons or the property of the clergy, was threatened 
 with the spiritual thunder of the Church, and its aw- 
 ful consequences both in this world and in the next. 
 The energies and the intelligence of mankind were 
 thus completely paralysed, and society, in the very 
 period of its infancy, fell into the weakness and de- 
 crepitude of age. 
 
 " The clergy, now constituting an immense army 
 without either restraint or moderation, formed in 
 every kingdom a kind of separate state, which did 
 not recognize the control of the sovereign, and was 
 consequently superior to him. At first, it only 
 yielded obedience to its immediate chiefs, the bi- 
 shops and archbishops; but by their means con- 
 nected itself in a very short time with the supreme 
 head of all, the Bishop of Rome ; and a theocracy, in 
 consequence, gave law to the whole Christian world." 
 § X. The twenty-fourth number, in which Doctor 
 Bianchi demonstrates that the clergy are subject to 
 the civil power, and that they ought to bear a part 
 in contributing to the expenses of tlie Government,* 
 goes to prove, that the privileges granted to the 
 clergy through the devotion or weakness of sove- 
 reigns, were in a short time converted into canons, 
 that is to say, into rules, which contained what it 
 denominated its rights. By degrees, new canons 
 * Ibid, tome 9. " Gli ecclesiastici soggetti/' &c. 
 
 T 2 
 
276 iMEMOiRS or 
 
 were enacted for the extension of the old, and new 
 riglits created by the priests tliemselves, in aid of 
 those wliich they owed to the indulgence or conces- 
 sions of Government. In this manner was the enor- 
 mous edifice of sacerdotal power constructed ; a 
 power supjiorted by civil and religious laws, com- 
 posed of the real and personal immunities of the 
 clergy, and declared by it to be sacred and inviolable. 
 To attempt the least encroachment upon it was high 
 treason — a crime at all times dreadful, but more es- 
 pecially so, when the clergy are invested with the 
 supreme authority, and are considered by the igno- 
 rant and superstitious multitude as the avengers of 
 that God whose will they profess to declare. 
 
 § XI. It was, however, more especially the Bull 
 In Cixna Domim, as containing a sketch of all the 
 pretended rights of the Pope, which irritated the 
 Catholic governments of this period ; particularly 
 after the scandalous affair of the Duke of Parma, 
 in which the Pope had had the impudence to bring 
 forward that Bull in support of his insolent proceed- 
 ings. The Senate of Venice had a report of the 
 whole drawn up for its information, on March 6th, 
 1769.* 
 
 In that document it is proved to demonstration, 
 by a minute and careful examination of each article 
 
 * Ibid, tome 13, No. 36. '' Riflessioni della deputazione es- 
 traordinaria ad pias causas sopra la Bulla In ccena, &c. presen- 
 ati air eccellentissimo Senate," &c. 
 
SCIPIO DE RICCI. 277 
 
 of the anti-social Bull In cania Domini, that in many 
 of its points it is destructive of all civil authority, 
 and that it wounds it deeply in the others ; that if 
 it were scrupulously observed by the clergy and their 
 flocks, all government would be at an end, and the 
 Pope would be sole master both of the actions and 
 consciences, the persons and the property of every 
 Catholic people, who in consequence would be alike 
 destitute of princes and magistrates, of councils and 
 bishops. 
 
 The Republic of Venice never consented to receive 
 the Bull In amia, and proscribed it frequently, not- 
 withstanding the remonstrances of the pontifical 
 Nuncios ; rejecting on all occasions the interference 
 of the confessors employed by the See of Rome to 
 relieve its subjects from the censures incurred by 
 contravening the provisions of the Bull, and prevent- 
 ing* them from executing their functions. The au- 
 thor of the report proves it by quotations from the 
 records of the Venetian Government in the second 
 volume, on its differences with the Court of Rome.* 
 
 The See of Rome, which never blushed to employ 
 any means which had been useful to it in former 
 times, and might still be so in future — Rome, to this 
 very day, delegates authority for granting absolution 
 in those cases which it has reserved in the Bull In 
 ccena Domini ; and what is more, there are priests, 
 subjects of an ti- Catholic goveinments, who are not 
 
 * Page 67, et seq. 
 
278 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 only furnished with that authority, but who also ex- 
 ercise it without hesitation. 
 
 § XII. The Republic of Venice ordered an account 
 to be drawn up, by an ecclesiastical commission of its 
 own appointment, of the amount of money which 
 was annually extracted from its subjects by the per- 
 nicious organization of the clergy. As the Court of 
 Rome still continues to levy, at least in part, the 
 same contribution as it formerly did on the inhabi- 
 tants of Catholic countries, we shall subjoin an ex- 
 tract from the report alluded to.* 
 
 The annual revenue of the ecclesiastical benefices 
 held by the subjects of the republic, and not situ- 
 ated within its territories, amounts to about 260,000 
 francs. 
 
 The ecclesiastical pensions payable to foreigners, to 
 between 72,000 and 78,000 francs. 
 
 Twenty-eight bulls, for canonical induction to 
 patriarchal, episcopal, and archiepiscopal sees, ob- 
 tained in the course of ten years, had cost nearly 
 5,000,000 francs ; without reckoning in that enor- 
 mous sum, the very great expense incurred by those 
 who had been nominated, in making a journey to 
 Rome for the purpose of being consecrated. 
 
 During the same ten years 50,000 francs had 
 been paid for forty-two Bulls for abbeys, priories, and 
 juovostships. 
 
 ■" Ibid, tomt- \7, No. 49. " Sciittura tlella deputazioue," &c. 
 
sciPio DE mcci. 279 
 
 One hundred and ten Bulls for pensions whieh 
 had been granted, amounted to 78,800 francs. 
 
 Two hundred and twenty-five bulls for parish 
 chiu'ches had been worth to the Pope 130,(00 
 francs, without reckoning what the curates must 
 have paid jjrivately to the cardinals, if they had been 
 maintained during the months reserved for these 
 princes of the Church. 
 
 Twenty-seven Bulls for canonships, collegiate 
 churches, &c. cost more than 80,000 francs. 
 
 Forty-five Bulls for collations to one hundred and 
 fifty simple benefices amounted to 12,600 francs. 
 
 During the year 1768 there arrived from Rome 
 11^0 rescripts, indulgences, privileges to altars, dis- 
 pensations relative to the granting of holy orders, 
 permissions to maintain private chapels, diplomas 
 conferring the title of count, &c. ; the whole for 
 the sum of 44,500 francs. 
 
 Rome granted, during the same year, 589 dispen- 
 sations for marriages, which brought an enormous 
 and unknown sum into its treasury. All that it was 
 possible to discover as to its amount, was, that those 
 dispensations which were requested and obtained 
 without any good reason being alleged, cost ten 
 times, and even twenty times more than those for 
 which any real cause was assigned. The report 
 reckons all these dispensations, on an average of the 
 highest and lowest rates, at a sum of 1,050,000 
 francs. 
 
280 JMEMOIllS 0¥ 
 
 The report goes on to state, that the conduct of 
 the Court of Rome, in this respect, is contrary to 
 the recommendations of the Council of Trent, which 
 in the fifth chapter of its twenty-fourth Session on 
 reform, gives its advice to grant dispensations of 
 marriage as seldom as possible, and orders them to 
 be issued, in all cases, free of expense. The same 
 Council forbids granting them in the second degree, 
 unless for reasons of a grave and public nature, and 
 in favour of princes and kings only, whose marriage 
 may affect the interests either of religion or of the 
 state. The Court of Rome, without paying the 
 slightest regard to this prohibition, had granted, in 
 the course of a single year, twenty-four of these dis- 
 pensations to mere citizens of the republic, whose 
 only claims to the indulgence of the Holy See were 
 the large sums of money which they were both able 
 and willing to place at its disposal. 
 
 § XIII.* " At first," says another memoir ad- 
 dressed to the Venetian Senate, " the Popes graci- 
 ously entreated their colleagues the bishops to confer 
 some ecclesiastical benefice on the poor priests whom 
 they recommended to their protection ; but in a 
 short time these .entreaties were changed into ex- 
 hortations, the exhortations into admonitions, the 
 admonitions into orders, threats, excommunications, 
 pecuniary fines, and finally, into an absolute despo- 
 
 * Ibid. No. 50, " Scrittura," &c. 
 
scirio DE Ricci. 281 
 
 tisni, which overthrew the whole system on which 
 benefices had originally been granted. By these 
 means not only were mandates, expectations, antici- 
 pations, and all the other stratagems devised by the 
 Court of Rome for its own advantage and the ruin 
 of others, introduced, but a large field was opened 
 for keeping alive every abuse by which the Church 
 of Christ was disfigured, and the patrimony of the 
 poor exhausted, and which have given rise to so 
 many grounds of difference in the last general coun- 
 cils. The regulations of the Roman chancery {can- 
 ccliaria), the plurality of benefices, translations from 
 one living to another, resignations in favour of par- 
 ticular individuals, assistantships with a clause for 
 future succession, commendams, resignations in court 
 {in curia), first fruits, dispensations from possessing 
 the qualifications required by the canons, and a great 
 number of other irregularities and abuses deplored 
 by the pious, and condemned by the decrees of the 
 Church, are still in existence, and still practised in 
 the same way as they formerly were. 
 
 " So far all this only relates to the interests of reli- 
 gion. But is the civil authority less injured by this 
 overthrow of principle and good order ? Ought it to 
 sit in patience and allow a foreign prince to dis- 
 tribute its revenues and its wealth, to levy contribu- 
 tions, and to attach to him by an oath of fidelity 
 those with whose government it is intrusted, with- 
 out his having any title to allege in favour of such 
 
282 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 authority, or being able to exhibit tlic least claim for 
 such sovereign dominion ?" 
 
 §XIV. The abuses caused by the excessive num- 
 ber of masses were attacked in a vigorous and unan- 
 swerable manner. 
 
 Perpetual foundations for saying masses, and lega- 
 cies destined for their support, were unknown, it is 
 said in a memoir on that subject, in any part of the 
 Church during several centuries, and still are so in 
 the East, where the maxims and customs prevalent 
 in the primitive ages of the Church have been more 
 strictly maintained. Devout persons have, indeed, 
 occasionally bequeathed gifts to the Church for the 
 remission of their sins, but without imposing any 
 particular condition or obligation. 
 
 The parish mass was for a long period the only 
 one which was celebrated, and Christians were bound 
 by the canons of the Church to assist at it. Until 
 the sixth century, bread and wine, intended to re- 
 lieve tlie most urgent wants of the Church and of 
 the poor, .were the only offerings presented to the 
 priest who celebrated mass. In the ninth century 
 private masses began, and they came into great 
 vogue, principally by means of the monks. The 
 secular clergy showed themselves eager to take ad- 
 vantage of them, and great murmuring and dissatis- 
 faction were occasioned by such an unheard-of inno- 
 vation on the established practice of the Church. 
 These murmurs redoubled, when the private masses 
 
scirio DE iiicci. 283 
 
 became .solitary, that is, when they were celebrated 
 by a single priest, without the presence or assistance 
 of any one. 
 
 The great increase in the numbers of the clergy 
 gave rise to such an increase in the number of 
 masses, that it at last Ijecame necessary to say 
 several at the same time in the same church. 
 The parish masses were in consequence given up, 
 and the people were obliged to accustom themselves 
 to join bodily and mentally in the masses which 
 were said by the priests for a particular purpose, 
 either expressed or understood. 
 
 Hence arose the practice of asking charity in be- 
 half of masses, and next that of paying a salary to 
 the celebrator, or the price of the sacrifice, as they 
 impudently termed it. Popes Eugenius the Second, 
 and Leo the Fourth, made the most vigorous exer- 
 tions to prevent this strange abuse, which did not 
 come into general practice till after the twelfth cen- 
 tury.* 
 
 " To complete our shame and extreme wretched- 
 ness, the sacrifice of the mass has been profaned to 
 such a degree both by the regular and secular clergy, 
 that they have had the impudence to establish fixed 
 rates for saying masses, like so many mechanics and 
 mercenaries ; rates which vary according to the fa- 
 tigue and quantity of time required for celebrating 
 them. The practice, in fact, came so much into vogue 
 
 * Ibid. p. 1, ct seq. 
 
284 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 that nothing was so common as to augment the 
 price ; for example, for masses which were chanted, 
 and for those celebrated at such and such a privi- 
 leged altar. The priest turned every circumstance 
 to account — the devotion of the people towards a 
 particular saint, a relic, an image reported to be 
 miraculous," &c.* 
 
 This devotion, powerfully stimulated by the innu- 
 merable contrivances which the avarice of the monks 
 suggested, caused a great influx of masses into their 
 convents. They had, in fact, consigned to them, in 
 the course of a very short time, more than they could 
 well celebrate ; but being reluctant either to put a 
 check upon the credulity of the public, or to restore 
 what had only been given them upon conditions with 
 which they were unable to comply, they addressed 
 themselves to the Court of Rome, which agreed to 
 divide with them what they had no title to, and 
 allowed them to retain the remainder with a clear 
 conscience. '* The monks were thus released from 
 all obligation to repair the evils, of whatever magni- 
 tude (cU (jualiinque somma e gramkzza), which they 
 had originated, by celebrating one or more masses, 
 which the common people ironically termed the 
 great mass, {messoiie) or by paying a money tax for 
 the support of St. Peter's at Rome, which the 
 agents of that court denominated the Composition 
 tax."t 
 
 * Ibid. p. 10. t Ibid. p. 15. 
 
SCIPIO DE RICCI. 285 
 
 The people requested to be informed if a single 
 mass was equivalent to many ? and in case of its 
 being so, why the priests burthened themselves with 
 so many at the same time, and collected the price of 
 celebrating them ? If on the other hand one is not 
 as good as several, they requested to know why 
 these priests did not restore the money which they 
 had received on promises which they either would 
 not or could not keep ?* 
 
 After this question, to which it would be very 
 difficult to reply in a satisfactory manner, the me- 
 morialist enters into various details (which we must 
 omit) in regard to the diiferent indulgences granted 
 by the See of Rome at different periods, to the re- 
 ligious orders which had been charged with the 
 celebration of more masses than they could perform, 
 and from which they desired to be released. In the 
 seventeenth century these indulgences came into 
 fashion ; in the eighteenth they were multiplied be- 
 yond all precedent, by the prodigality of Benedict the 
 Fourteenth, so famous for the number of his decrees. 
 
 We shall content ourselves with stating that in 
 the case of the church of the Dominicans of the 
 order of St. John and St. Paul at Venice, there 
 were found in arrear in 1743, 16,400 masses; and 
 the following year, in the case of the church of our 
 Lady dell-Orto, the duty of which was performed 
 by Cistercian monks, no fewer than 14,3 00. f 
 
 * Ibid. p. 17. t Ibid. p. 36. 
 
286 MEMOIRS or 
 
 § XV. In a memorial presented to the Junto of 
 the Ten Sages, commissioned ad pias causas, on tlie 
 12th June, 1767, we read that until tlic time of 
 Gregory the Seventh, the very few oaths which had 
 been taken to the Bishop of Rome by the other 
 Catholic bishops, were only simple promises of ca- 
 nonical deference, which had in a manner been ren- 
 dered necessary by the peculiar difficulties of the 
 times. The monk Hildebrand exacted with rigour 
 as duties of fidelity, what his predecessors had but 
 very rarely solicited as pledges of union. He changed 
 the formula of the oath, and exacted that homage 
 from his colleagues, whom he was desirous of re- 
 ducing to the situation of vassals, whicli the bishops 
 of our days pay to the Holy See, whose subjects 
 they become at the very moment when tlie authority 
 which they acquire over their fellow citizens ought 
 to leave them free from all obligations except those 
 due to their country.* 
 
 The next paper, (No. 83,) proves by the most 
 natural interpretation of each article in the oath 
 taken by the bishops to the See of Rome, that it is 
 nothing else but an express and solemn promise on 
 oath to betray their respective sovereigns, and that 
 each clause of the oath imposes an obHgation to 
 commit high treason. f 
 
 * Tom. 4, No. 82. " Scrittura di Pietro Franseschi," &c. 
 
 t Ibid. No. 83, pp. 77, et seq. " Scrittura intorno al Giuramento." 
 
sciPio DE nice I. 287 
 
 § XVI. The canon law is next attacked, and that 
 too by a monk of the name of Francis- Wenceslaiis 
 Barkovich.* " The letters which we have quoted, (the 
 decretals of Mercator,) are full of maxims luiknown 
 before that time in the church of Christ : dictated by 
 the grossest ignorance, tliey abound in the most glaring 
 anachronisms ; are wholly unworthy of the majestic 
 simplicity of the first ages of Christianity, and en- 
 tirely contrary to its ancient practice. The disco- 
 very of the imposture came too late. The Co\ut of 
 Rome, taking advantage of the ignorance which 
 everywhere prevailed, laid hold of it at once, first for 
 establishing, and afterwards for consolidating and 
 extending beyond all precedent, the authority which 
 she arrogated to herself. 
 
 " The principal doctrines inculcated in that frau- 
 dulent collection are, that the Pope is bishop of all 
 Christendom ; that all causes of importance ought 
 to be brought by appeal before the See of Rome ; 
 that causes relating to bishops belong exclusively to 
 the Pope ; that he ought to convoke and preside in 
 all general councils ; that no council, whether ge- 
 neral or particular, is binding unless approved of by 
 the Pope ; that he has authority to allow bishops to 
 give up the churches to which they have been ap- 
 pointed, for the purpose of being translated to a 
 richer and more illustrious See ; that apostolic ap- 
 
 * Tbid. No. 85. " Scrittura del P. Francesco Wenceslao 
 Barkovich," &c. 
 
288 ME^rOTRS OF 
 
 peals to the See of Rome were usual before the 
 Council of Sardica ; that metropolitans were never 
 allowed to enter upon the exercise of their functions 
 before obtaining the pallium at the hands of the 
 Pope ; that from the very origin of Christianity, it 
 was an established and undisputed maxim that every 
 church whicli departed from the usages and cere- 
 monies adopted by the Church of Rome, ought to 
 be considered as heretical, &c. 
 
 " Notwithstanding the measures adopted in latter 
 times for checking the excessive power of the Popes, 
 that power is still sufficiently enormous to encourage 
 the hope of re-establishing and enlarging it. Sove- 
 reign princes will have always grounds for fear 
 whilst the bishops are treated as subjects by the 
 Court of Rome, and the monks are exempted from 
 the general jurisdiction of the bishops ; whilst money 
 shall continue to flow in abundance towards Rome, 
 and while the favours which these princes allow her 
 to distribute with such profusion, shall have the 
 power of procuring for her partisans and abettors.* 
 
 ^ XVII. Before terminating this note, we shall 
 give an important and excellent memoir dra^^Tl up 
 by the commission which the Republic of "\^enice 
 had intrusted with the reform of the pubhc insti- 
 tutions for education. 
 
 The redactor of the memoir proves that the Go- 
 vernment had done but little towards the emancipa- 
 
 * Ibid. p. 195. 
 
sciPio DE nicer. 289 
 
 tion of the civil autliority by proscribing the Bull 
 In C(ena Domini. " The reform which is most re- 
 quired," says he, " is that of the studies of ecclesi- 
 astics, in order to prevent anti-social principles from 
 becoming the religion of those who are destined by 
 their profession to instruct and direct the people. 
 For this purpose it is necessary, if not to abolish, 
 which would perhaps give rise to a dangerous cla- 
 mour, at least to remove carefully out of the way 
 the canon law and the decretals, which are the real 
 sources of that monstrous system — the Bull In Ccciia 
 Domini being only a natural and necessary con- 
 sequence of it. 
 
 " In these decretals a doctrine is taught which is 
 not only new, and totally unknown either to the 
 Gospel, the Fathers, or the Church, but which is con- 
 trary to every law both human and divine. By 
 these decretals a monarch is set up who recognizes 
 no other limits to his dominion than those of the 
 universe ; whose laws and commands the kings and 
 princes of the earth are bound to obey ; and if any 
 of them shall dare to maintain his right to that sove- 
 reignty which he received from Heaven itself, he is 
 declared guilty of treason and rebellion ; his subjects 
 are released from their oath of fidelity, and his ter- 
 ritories exposed and abandoned to the invasion of 
 foreigners. 
 
 *' This despot is also declared to be the legislator 
 of the universe ; to be possessed of authority to 
 
 VOL. I. U 
 
290 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 alter, reform, or abolish, the laws of all kingdoms 
 and of all states ; to be a judge, to the decisions of 
 whose tribunal all the sovereigns of the earth must 
 submit ; whose decrees are infallible, and admit of 
 no appeal, because those which he pronounces are 
 held to be the decrees of God himself; and those 
 who appeal from them to the general councils of the 
 Church are declared to be rebellious and refractory, 
 and are deprived of all communion with the pious. 
 
 " This code has, in fact, no other end in view than 
 that of establishing despotism and universal mon- 
 archy throughout the whole earth. All sovereigns 
 are bound to yield homage and obedience to that 
 formidable monarch ; and if the least opposition is 
 exhibited, rebellions, wars, and insurrections, are the 
 consequence ; while the sovereigns, who, in defence 
 of their just rights, have had the misfortune to offend 
 this priest-king, are deprived at once of theu' king- 
 doms and their lives, — (a melancholy prediction of 
 the misfortunes and premature death of Joseph the 
 Second and Leopold.) 
 
 "A bold and enterprising militia, animated by prin- 
 ciples of fanaticism, cupidity, and ambition, bound 
 by vows and solemn oaths, and always ready, on the 
 slightest signal from that monarch to whom by the 
 rules of its institution it is called upon to yield the 
 most blind and slavish obedience, to excite the storm 
 of rebellion and insurrection, — that militia, I say, 
 which is spread over every state in Christendom, 
 ought to be considered as fraught with danger and 
 
SCIPIO DE RICCI. 291 
 
 alarm ; because by taking advantage of the super- 
 stition and ignorance of the people, whose good 
 opinion it has acquired by a false character for piety 
 and knowledge, it is sufficiently powerful to give just 
 cause of dread, mistrust, and jealousy, to every 
 Government in whose states it may happen to be 
 placed. 
 
 " The regulars of a certain order, a veteran and 
 zealous troop, have obtained from this grateful mon- 
 arch the most signal rewards and privileges : in 
 granting which, the people have not only been deeply 
 injured, but those rights which are more especially 
 inherent in sovereigns, and of which they are most 
 jealous, have been sacrificed, because they (the Je- 
 suits) have shown themselves more anxious and care- 
 ful than any other to extend the limits of the new 
 empire, and in every state in which they have ob- 
 tained a footing, have not scrupled to excite discord 
 and sedition for the purpose of maintaining and 
 defending it. Even in our day, though nearly over- 
 come by the repeated attacks which have been made 
 upon them, they are both terrible and formidable to 
 the most powerful monarchs of Christendom, who do 
 not believe that they can be secure from those just 
 fears, suspicions, and jealousies, with which they 
 have hitherto been harassed, until the order be com- 
 pletely abolished. 
 
 " The code of decretals was received by St. Ray- 
 mond de Pennafort, without examination, judgment, 
 
 u 2 
 
292 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 or inquiry, in ages which were darkened by supersti- 
 tion and ignorance ; and was compiled, according to 
 the prejudices of these unhappy times, with no other 
 view than that of investing the spiritual power with 
 an absolute, despotic, and arbitrary authority. All 
 the decretals attributed to the three first centuries of 
 the Church are clearly false ; while many of those 
 said to belong to succeeding ages have evidently been 
 falsified to suit and accommodate the new system of 
 Government. " 
 
 These decretals have regularly been invoked 
 whenever it became necessary to employ a pretend- 
 ed defence of the rights of God as a pretext for in- 
 vading those belonging to Caesar. These latter 
 rights were, however, recognized by our Saviour 
 himself in the presence of Pilate ; were supported 
 by the Apostles in their preachings ; respected by 
 the early saints ; and their lawfulness inculcated by 
 the fathers of the Church. They were exercised by 
 the Emperors until the eleventh century ; and if 
 they were at length overthrown by the wars between 
 the priesthood and the empire, and weakened by 
 the factions of the Guelfs and Ghibelins, who stained 
 with blood both the Church and the State, the 
 priesthood alone is accountable for it to religion and 
 humanity. 
 
 " To these decretals, and to the unfounded prin- 
 ciples of divine right, are to be attributed the abuse 
 which was made of the power of the keys, as well as 
 
SCIPIO DE lUCCI. 293 
 
 the doctrine of direct and indirect dominion, which 
 was hatched to establish a despotism infinitely more 
 absolute and horrible than was ever witnessed in any 
 eastern monarchy, and to despoil princes of that so- 
 vereign authority which they received from Heaven 
 for the government of mankind. To the same 
 source are to be traced those interdicts which were 
 employed to excite, to aid, and to justify the people 
 in rebelling against, murdering, deposing, and banish- 
 ing, their sovereigns : — that universal government 
 of the Church which deprived the bishops of that 
 authority which was conferred upon them by Jesus 
 Christ, the only supreme head and shepherd of the 
 Church ; those personal and real immunities so hurt- 
 ful and injurious to the lawful jurisdiction of princes 
 and magistrates ; as well as all those other monstrous 
 doctrines which have destroyed every idea and prin- 
 ciple of human and divine right. 
 
 " Gregory the Seventh was the author of this new 
 doctrine, and of the differences which took place be- 
 tween the priesthood and the empire. Supported 
 by the forces and the fanaticism of the Countess 
 Matilda, he carried on for several years, to the great 
 scandal and mortification of the pious, an unjust 
 and cruel war with the Emperor Henry the Fourth, 
 merely because he would not relinquish those rights 
 which he had received from God. For these rea- 
 sons, which ought to have rendered his memory 
 odious both to the Church and to the State, Gre- 
 
294 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 gory was placed on the list of martyrs, as is attested 
 by the lessons in his Office, which were published in 
 1728, and very justly condemned in all Catholic 
 states." 
 
 That Pope is praised in the office alluded to, as 
 the one who, since the time of the Apostles, has 
 done most service to the Church, which he governed, 
 not according to human wisdom, but in accordance 
 with the dictates of the Holy Spirit. The author 
 of the memorial remarks, that the doctrine which he 
 inculcated was not that spirit of peace, of charity, 
 of concord, of obedience and submission to the 
 estabhshed authorities, which the Gospel recom- 
 mends to the practice of its disciples. 
 
 " The name of Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury, 
 was also inserted in the catalogue of saints, because 
 he taught that the Pope had absolute authority over 
 the bishops, and that the bishops were completely 
 independent of the civil power, to which he would 
 not allow them to take the usual oath of fidelity. 
 
 " In our days a learned and pious Cardinal found it 
 necessary to throw all his influence and energy into 
 the scale, in order to prevent Cardinal Bcllarmin, 
 the most ferocious abettor and defender of that anti- 
 christian doctrine, from being raised to the rank of 
 a saint. Tlie only title which that haughty prelate 
 could possibly have to such distinction, was that of 
 having extended the despotism of the spiritual power 
 farther than had been imagined before his time, 
 
SCIPIO DE KICCI. '2d5 
 
 either by human pride, by fanaticism, or by tlie adu- 
 latory spirit of his brethren, the Jesuits." 
 
 The memorial next presents us with a just and 
 energetic description of the evils which were accu- 
 mulated by the spiritual power, on the heads of those 
 princes who were bold enough to attack these ab- 
 surd pretensions ; and also with a striking picture of 
 the extravagant proceedings of the successors of 
 Gregory the Seventh. 
 
 " The devout Louis the Ninth, of France, was 
 threatened by the Pope with all the terrors of an 
 interdict, because, in an assembly of the principal 
 lords of his kingdom, he had given orders that none 
 of his vassals should be responsible to the ecclesias- 
 tical tribunals in matters purely civil, and that the 
 clergy should appear before the secular judges in all 
 causes relating to their fiefs. A few years after- 
 wards, the Pope's legate sanctioned in a council, held 
 in France itself, the usurpations of the clergy, not- 
 withstanding their being so hurtful and injurious to 
 the authority of the sovereign. The kings and princes 
 of the earth had indeed good reason to dread even 
 the sight of these domineering ministers of the spi- 
 ritual power ; for by their mandate, councils were 
 annually assembled, without the knowledge or con- 
 sent of the sovereign, in the very heart of his do- 
 minions, which, under the specious names of the liber- 
 ties and immunities of the Church, confirmed more 
 and more the despotism and independence of the 
 
296 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 clergy. In these councils, war, peace, alliances, 
 trade, policy, laws, modes of government, judicial sys- 
 tems, the rights of monarchs — in short, every thing 
 was discussed and regulated according to the views 
 and interests of these formidable monarchs. Sup- 
 ported by that bold and enterprising militia which 
 every where fomented war, discord, sedition, rebel- 
 lion, ignorance, superstition, and fanaticism among 
 the people, they were sure of their laws and com- 
 mands being received and respected by every sove- 
 reign of Christendom. 
 
 '• Rome, during those ages of darkness and super- 
 stition, saw all the sovereigns of Christian states 
 within her walls : some of them imploring pardon 
 for having undertaken a just war in defence of their 
 most sacred rights ; others declaring themselves the 
 vassals and tributaries of the Church ; many receiv- 
 ing a precarious investiture of those states which 
 they had obtained either by conquest, by consent of 
 the people, or by inheritance through a long succes- 
 sion of ancestors ; and all of them obliged to submit, 
 in full view of the people, to the vilest and most 
 humihating acts of degradation." 
 
 The priests, though called upon by their profession 
 to be the messengers of indulgence and universal 
 charity, were at that time only the instruments of 
 the Popes for excommunicating their enemies and 
 opponents. 
 
 *' In these latter times, during which ignorance 
 
scirio DE mcci. 297 
 
 and superstition began to be diminished, interdicts 
 have become less frequent, notwithstanding the at- 
 tention of the Popes to preserve and confirm in their 
 Bulls that sanguinary and antichristian doctrine to 
 which they are indebted for their exorbitant power. 
 The Bulls of Alexander the Third, of Boniface the 
 Eighth, and Innocent the Third, cannot be perused 
 without feeling the utmost horror and indignation. 
 Paul the Fourth, that ferocious and violent Pope, 
 who with so much audacity and insolence cited be- 
 fore his terrible tribunal at Rome, tlie two Emperors 
 Charles the Fifth and Ferdinand the Third his bro- 
 ther, because the one of them had resigned, and the 
 other accepted the imperial authority without his 
 consent, — this Pope, in a Bull signed by all his car- 
 dinals, decreed, that in future, every count, baron, 
 marquis, duke, king, or emperor, who had fallen 
 into or should be convicted of, heresy and schism, 
 should be totally deprived of their dominions ; that 
 they should be incapable of possessing any in future ; 
 and that they could never be restored to their former 
 condition. Every action, however innocent, which 
 did not favour his system of despotism and universal 
 monarchy, w^as declared by that Pope to be heresy. 
 His pride made him reject the obedience which Eh- 
 zabeth of England proffered to him, and his threats 
 confirmed that kingdom in its separation from the 
 Church of Rome. 
 
 " The interdict lately fulminated against the Duke 
 
298 MEisroius of 
 
 of Parma, ought to awaken the dread and jealousy, 
 formerly entertained by every sovereign prince, of 
 the Court of Rome. Such a recent example of the 
 exercise of the authority which she arrogates to her- 
 self, over a member of a family which holds the first 
 place in Europe in point of authority, grandeur, and 
 power, and that, too, in times so critical and dif- 
 ficult for herself, ought to inspire every sovereign 
 with a just dread, lest, taking advantage of those 
 opportunities with which more favourable circum- 
 stances may supply her, she again attempt to put 
 her despotic power in force against them. 
 
 *' Such is the doctrine contained and taught in de- 
 cretals — a doctrine both sanguinary and seditious — 
 a doctrine which establishes the despotism of the 
 spiritual power, and the slavery of every sovereign — 
 a doctrine which foments the ambitious and inde- 
 pendent spirit of the clergy, and excites rebellion 
 among the peoj)le ; a doctrine which has caused and 
 will continue to cause constant dread, suspicion, jea- 
 lousy, and distrust in the bosom of every sovereign. 
 It is one which strikes at the root of every natural 
 and divine right ; a doctrine which overturns tlie 
 most solid foundations of human society, and which, 
 in bringing back the times of ignorance and supersti- 
 tion, will renew those scenes of discord which took 
 place between the priesthood and the empire. It is, 
 moreover, a doctrine which must have hindered, and 
 will continue to impede, the propagation of the Gos- 
 
SCIPIO DE RICCI. 299 
 
 pel among those heathen and idolatrous nations when 
 they become aware that there is in Christianity a 
 power which can excite, at pleasure, sedition, war, 
 and rebellion among the people, and despoil legiti- 
 mate sovereigns of their lives and kingdom ; a doc- 
 trine which foments and nourishes fanaticism and 
 superstition ; a doctrine which has extended the 
 empire of the spiritual power even beyond the limits 
 of the known world. 
 
 " The line of demarcation pointed out by Pope 
 Alexander the Sixth, who disgraced the Church by 
 so many horrible crimes and such abandoned wick- 
 edness, is well known. In order to prevent war and 
 discord between the Spaniards and Portuguese, he 
 fixed the limits within which they might carry on 
 their conquests in regions altogether unknown, over 
 which he could have no other rights than those of 
 fanaticism and universal monarchy, and the new 
 conquerors none but those acquired by force, by 
 violence, and usurpation. — This doctrine (that of 
 the decretals) has more than once obliged Christian 
 princes to violate treaties which they had entered 
 into with infidels, and confirmed with oaths — the 
 strongest bands of human society ; it has enslaved 
 the Church which was free in times of the fiercest 
 jiersecution ; and despoiled the bishops, the true suc- 
 cessors of the Apostles, of that authority which they 
 had received from Jesus Christ. It is a doctrine 
 which was totally unknown in those ages of the 
 
300 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 Church most celebrated for their piety ; and to sum 
 up all in one word, it is a doctrine completely at 
 variance with the spirit, and with the precepts of the 
 Gospel." 
 
 In continuation of what he had said in regard to 
 the false titles by which the sacerdotal power is 
 maintained, the author of the memoir expresses him- 
 self in the following terms : which we copy so much 
 the more willingly, as even in our days these same 
 titles exist, because the ecclesiastical authority shows 
 a strong desire to turn them to account, and because 
 imprudent Governments are labouring to procure it 
 the means. 
 
 '* It was during this unfortunate age, (the eleventh 
 century,) that those false decretals were pubhshed, 
 in which, besides the independence of the clergy, it 
 was distinctly inculcated that the orders of the Holy 
 See were to be obeyed every where, and by every 
 class of persons, without delay or contradiction, and 
 that no civil law had any force or authority against 
 its canons and decrees ; that the tribunal of the 
 Church is superior to that of the sovereign ; and that 
 the laws of the State ought only to be obeyed when 
 they are not contrary to those of the Church. About 
 this period also were falsified those ancient laws and 
 canons which militated against this monstrous sys- 
 tem. The clergy supported by these false documents, 
 not content with the independence which they had 
 acquired by open rebellion, and rendered audacious 
 
scirio DE RICCI. 301 
 
 by the ignorance and attachment of the people, 
 usurped a great part of the authority whicli belonged 
 to the magistrates. After this usurpation, the au- 
 thority of sovereigns was overthrown and demolished 
 by means of false documents, which taught the su- 
 periority of the spiritual over the temporal power ; 
 that princes were inferior to bishops, and that they 
 ought not to undertake or regulate any thing except 
 according to their advice. 
 
 *' Such was the monstrous system, so totally con- 
 trary to the doctrines of the Gospel, and before that 
 time unknown in any age or nation, by means of 
 which Gregory the Seventh pretended that the tem- 
 poral power was subordinate to the spiritual ; that 
 the Church alone had the power of conferring crowns 
 and judging sovereigns ; that all Christian princes 
 were vassals of the Church of Rome, and ought to 
 take an oath of fidelity to her, as well as pay her an 
 annual tribute." 
 
ti02 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Supplementary observations ori Leopold's Character, and on the 
 Transactions of his Reign. 
 
 The reader will not, perhaps, be displeased to 
 have, in addition to the preceding notices, which have 
 been collected with the view of furnishing materials 
 for the history of Leopold's reign, the reflections made 
 by some Tuscan writers in regard to that truly great 
 Prince, at a period when, equally free from the con- 
 trol of a jealous superstition and suspicious despo- 
 tism, they could form and pronounce a judgment 
 respecting him, neither dictated by servility nor 
 modified by the influence of fear. The time to which 
 we allude is the brief period of their democracy in 
 1799, and of that of the French Government, which 
 preceded the reign of bigotry and extravagance 
 under Louis of Parma, and Maria Louisa of Spain. 
 It was then an honour to a sovereign to receive and 
 to deserve the praise of a free people. 
 
SCIPIO DE KICCT. 303 
 
 These reflections will serve as a kind of commen- 
 tary on the constitution which Leopold planned, and 
 will throw more light upon it than any thing which 
 we can ourselves advance. They are extracted from 
 writings published at the time, which in general were 
 wholly unknown in France, (with the exception of 
 the first, which was printed in Paris,) and which will 
 soon be destroyed and forgotten even in Tuscany. 
 We look upon them as materials which must be highly 
 useful in composing the history of the benefactor of 
 that happy province of Italy- a history which, if it be 
 properly executed, ought to contribute much to pro- 
 duce what is at least the most beautiful, if it is not 
 also the most difficult miracle — a good king. 
 
 § I. The first pages, which we shall extract ve7^- 
 batim, are taken from a pamphlet entitled " On 
 Tuscany, an article extracted from the correspon- 
 dence of Citizen P. D. L. with his friend * * *, a 
 representative of the people, dated from B******, 
 this first day of April, and seventh year of the 
 French Republic, One and Indivisible. Printed by 
 H. I. Jansen, Rue des P^res, No. 1159." 
 
 In section second, at pages 9 and 10, we have 
 the following statistical account of Tuscany. 
 
 " Tuscany occupies an extent of surface of nearly 
 eleven thousand square miles, reckoning sixty-seven 
 and three quarters to a degree ; but that territory is 
 far from being either productive or very thickly peo- 
 pled. A great part of the mountains is covered 
 
304 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 with rocks which prevent them from being brought 
 into a state of ciUtivation ; whilst the least elevated 
 lands are covered with sterile heaths or insalubrious 
 marshes. Its population, which amounts to one mil- 
 lion two hundred thousand souls, although very far 
 from being great, considering the immense extent of 
 surface over which it is spread, is nevertheless very 
 considerable, when we take into account the very 
 circumscribed space occupied by soils capable of cul- 
 tivation, and the complete desert formed by the Alps 
 and marshes. The cultivated lands are divided into 
 eighty-two thousand farms, surrounded by hedges or 
 ditches, on each of which is settled a family of pea- 
 sants. These families consist of from five to fifteen 
 individuals, exclusively occupied with the cultivation 
 of the soil, and the rearing of cattle. The persever- 
 ing industry of that laborious and temperate class 
 seldom succeeds in procuring more than six returns 
 of grain, in those situations where the soil can be 
 best manured ; and this product is less, in proportion 
 as the lands happen to be farther removed from the 
 towns and large villages. On account of this ste- 
 rility of the soil, there are in Tuscany a considerable 
 number of communes which have been declared free 
 from contributions, and which, in fact, pay no sort 
 of tax; such as the villages and hamlets of Lunigiana, 
 the districts of Pietrasanta, of Berga, and of the little 
 town of Porto Ferraio, in the island of Elba, which 
 
scirio DE iticci. 305 
 
 only possesses a small, insalubiious, and rorky ter- 
 ritory. 
 
 " The port of Leghorn, open to all nations, and 
 entirely free from every species of restriction, gives 
 a sort of commercial importance to Tuscany, and 
 procures respect for her agents in maritime coun- 
 tries. This little port, so happily situated, necessarily 
 remains neuter, whatever European states may be at 
 war ; and the reasons for this neutrality are analo- 
 gous to those which will always render the Tuscan 
 Government neuter ' under similar circumstances. 
 Leghorn is not in such a state of defence as to make 
 head against the smallest squadron which might 
 attack her by sea, or against a body of troops which 
 might wish to assail her by land." 
 
 Sections third and fourth, at page 12, which 
 follow, relate more particularly to Leopold, to his 
 schemes for establishing a constitution, to his re- 
 forms, and their consequences. 
 
 " Tuscany is very far from being governed in a 
 despotic manner, as people here seem to think. 
 That Peter Leopold, who ceased to be a great man 
 when he succeeded to the throne of the Caesars, had 
 given her a national representation, a purely repub- 
 lican constitution, which his son, the present Grand- 
 duke, has religiously observed.* 
 
 * Ferdinand the Third, who was then alive. — Leopold the 
 Second, his son, now reigning, appears desirous of following still 
 VOL, I. X 
 
30(j MEMOIES OF 
 
 " The first trial of the new constitution was made 
 by Peter Leopold in 1772, on some communes ; in 
 1774 it was extended to the whole of Florence, and 
 between 1776 and 1777, to the whole of Tuscany. 
 Peter Leopold did not procure for himself by that 
 means either the friendship of the nobles, or of those 
 greedy minions who were connected with them, and 
 who fattened on the blood and sweat of the people. 
 There was only one cry against him during the whole 
 of his administration, and that cry stifled the blessings 
 which the poor artisan and peasant poured forth upon 
 him ; but after his death, the whole people of Tus- 
 cany united in doing homage to his memory, which 
 is still cherished by the inhabitants, who in future 
 will only form one great class. 
 
 " By the new constitution every species of per- 
 sonal tax was abolished, and exclusively imposed 
 
 more scrupulotisly the footsteps of Leopold the Great, his grand- 
 father. Tliis is a fortunate circumstance for Tuscany ; but it 
 still remains to be converted into a source of permanent happi- 
 ness, of which unpleasant accidents, that is to say, bad princes 
 or perfidious ministers, shall not in future be able to deprive her. 
 Such was the intention of Leopold ; and it is now the general 
 and irresistible desire of every people. The actual possession of 
 liberty and prosperity will not any longer satisfy men who feel 
 that they have a right to have them guaranteed by law. Happy 
 that people, who, like the Tuscans in reclaiming their rights, 
 shall find both liberty and prosperity already established among 
 them ; and more happy still that Prince who shall have magnani- 
 mity enough to oblige both himself and his successors to govern 
 always as lie had begun, by governing himself. 
 
SCIPIO DE RICCl. 307 
 
 on actual property. The right of compelHng the 
 books of the administration to be exhibited for ex- 
 amination, was granted to every citizen. All pro- 
 prietors of real property (hiens-fonds) in Tuscany, 
 even foreigners who may come to reside in it, and 
 also those Jews who may become purchasers of land, 
 are regarded as citizens of Tuscany, and have exclu- 
 sively the right of voting in the assemblies which 
 are annually held in the different communes, and 
 which have the power of determining the amount, 
 the allotment, and the method of collecting taxes. 
 This article of the constitution gave rise to a pro- 
 digious increase in the number of the proprietors. 
 Every one who was unpossessed of property, whether 
 a mechanic, a labourer, or a domestic servant, be- 
 came laborious, temperate and economical, in order 
 to acquire a portion, however small it might be, for 
 himself, or at least for his children. Hence there 
 arose a general spirit of order and good conduct 
 among the Tuscans ; and hence also seven hundred 
 thousand proprietors out of one million two hundred 
 thousand inhabitants — a fact absolutely without a 
 parallel in the history of other nations. 
 
 " Taxes in Tuscany are so very moderate, that the 
 hundred and fifty-six communes into which the Flo- 
 rentine part of it is divided, and which is certainly 
 the richest and the most populous, do not pay annu- 
 ally more than 80,508 francs. 
 
 " The lords of fiefs were called upon to declare the 
 
 X 2 
 
308 .AfEiMOIRS OF 
 
 value of their exemptions and feudal rights, which 
 were re-purchased by Leopold for ready money, and 
 abolished in behalf of the nation. The nobility were 
 allowed to retain their titles, but none of the privi- 
 leges which were formerly attached to them ; the pea- 
 sant who is proprietor of the humblest cottage, pos- - 
 sesses the same rights in every respect as the nobles in 
 the assemblies ; and it not unfrequently happens, that 
 one of the most distinguished IMarquises has a poor 
 labourer for his colleague in the administration. Ex- 
 emptions are so completely abolished, that the Grand- 
 duke himself pays the taxes levied on allodial pos- 
 sessions, in the same way as a private individual, 
 and is subject to the same fines as any other citizen, 
 in case of not making payment of them within the 
 time pointed out by the law. The trade in provi- 
 sions is free from all partial and temporary restric- 
 tion, except under circumstances universally allowed 
 to be disastrous. As soon as these are removed, 
 matters are allowed to proceed on their former free 
 and liberal footing. 
 
 " The clergy does not enjoy the least privilege in 
 the state, and possesses not any decisive influence 
 over the minds of the people. The descendants of 
 the ancient Etruscans, although sufficiently inclined 
 to devotion, do not allow themselves to be carried 
 away by superstition. They gave a sufficient proof 
 of their disposition in this respect at the period of 
 the Pope's arrival in Tuscany, whicli was universally 
 
scirio i)i: iiicLi. .'iOO 
 
 considered by tliciii as a jmblic inisrortiine. The 
 government gives itself no trouljlc about tlie Ma- 
 donnas, and allows them to midtiply these baubles 
 of popular credulity as much as they please ; but the 
 [)eople of Tuscany are so much the more safe from 
 the seductive arts of tlie clergy, as every religion, 
 without any exception, is tolerated in the coun- 
 try, and every religion protected at Legliorn : the 
 clergy may play tricks there to a certain extent, 
 but can never become leaders of the public mind. 
 Tlie country curates collect no tithes ; the conse- 
 ({uence of which is, that instead of oppressing the 
 cultivator of the soil, they have themselves become 
 cultivators, and are rendered such both by their 
 wants and their situation ; having no other source 
 of support but the small pieces of land which have 
 been allotted to them. Several of them have ac- 
 cordingly become not only excellent farmers, but 
 excellent writers on the subject. The works of the 
 two curates Lastri and Paoletti, on the different 
 points of rural economy and pi-actice, have procured 
 for them a very high reputation. 
 
 " The people in the towns and in the country of 
 Tuscany are divided into communes or municipalities, 
 eacl||of which has its gonfalonier, or president, its 
 priors or ancients, along with a council which takes 
 cognizance of every thing relative to the rate and 
 collection of taxes, as well as to the administration 
 and employiucnt of the public money. The same 
 
310 MEMOIRS or 
 
 council has the power of nominating the treasurer 
 or cashier, the syndic, the intendant of roads and 
 bridges, and the public notary of the commune. This 
 last officer draws up the decrees, and has the charge 
 of the archives in which they are registered. Each 
 commune, whether in town or in the country, sup- 
 ports a schoolmaster, a physician, a surgeon, and an 
 approved midwife, who are obliged to communicate 
 instruction and assistance in their several depart- 
 ments to their fellow-citizens. 
 
 " These, in the employment of Government, receive 
 their salaries in advance, and if they happen to die, 
 their widows receive at first three months pay, and in 
 the course of that period, a pension for life is granted 
 to them, which is fixed, according to circumstances, 
 between a third and two-thirds of what their hus- 
 bands received. The list of this class of pensions 
 during the last years of Leopold's reign amounted to 
 2,400,000 Florentine livres — a very large sum for a 
 small State, whose revenues did not amovmt to more 
 than 10,000,000 of the same coin. 
 
 " The governors of provinces, towns, villages, &c. 
 were appointed by the Grand-duke ; but he never 
 took the liberty of nominating them, without having 
 previously advised with the tribunal of Consultation 
 as it was called, whose councils were indispensably 
 necessary even Ijcfore passing any decree which 
 "would have the eflcct of a law. These governors 
 were not allowed to hold their appointments longer 
 
SCIl'IO DE lllCCI. 311 
 
 tliau three years ; and before obtaining any new office, 
 they were obUged to produce certificates from the 
 communes, of their good conduct, and of their having 
 rendered an account of tlieir administration to the 
 syndics. 
 
 " In the choice and appointment of persons to 
 public situations, the Government never attempted 
 to shock public opinion. Tlie modest and wise Fos- 
 sombroni, lately nominated Minister for Foreign 
 affairs, is a choice worthy of a Republican Go- 
 vernment. 
 
 " As by the constitution the most perfect equality 
 in a civil point of view has been established among 
 the different classes of citizens, by abolishing all 
 exemptions and privileges ; so in the same manner 
 the penal code, that glorious monument of the phi- 
 losophy and philanthropy of Peter Leopold, pub- 
 lished in 1781, recognizes no difference of ranks. 
 The same crime is punishable to the same extent 
 and in the same way, whoever may have been the 
 transgressor. Along with the crime of high treason, 
 torture and capital punishments have also been 
 abolished ; while the life of the lowest porter in the 
 state has been declared to be as valuable as that of 
 him who holds the highest rank. The penal code 
 relieves persons who are accused, from the necessity 
 of taking the exculpatory oath, and those employed 
 in drawing up the indictment, from the oath of fide- 
 lity which was formerly required of them ; it enacts 
 
312 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 in short, that all criminal prosecutions shall be pre- 
 ceded by an accusation lodged in due form against 
 the delinquent, and renders the public accuser re- 
 sponsiI)le for the proceedings. 
 
 " The prisons which were formerly in Tuscany, as 
 every where else, filthy and abominable dungeons, 
 have, since the time of Peter Leopold, been con- 
 verted into healthy and well-aired establishments for 
 the reception and safeguard of those whom it is 
 found necessary to imprison. 
 
 " The punishment of a crime, whatever it may 
 have been, never extends, according to the penal 
 code of Tuscany, beyond the individual w^ho has 
 been guilty of it ; all confiscations affecting collat- 
 erals or descendants, being abolished as unjust." 
 
 The author proves the excellence and good policy 
 of these provisions of the criminal law by the con- 
 sequences whicli have resulted from them ; namely, 
 that there are now much fewer crimes committed in 
 Tuscany than in the other States of Italy. He 
 thus continues : 
 
 " Our brethren in arms have lately received a 
 striking proof of the humane and hospitable charac- 
 ter of the Tuscans. Wlien, under the necessity of 
 yielding to a superior force, they withdrew from 
 Rome, a set of fanatical villains pursued and at- 
 tacked them as if they had been so many beasts of 
 prey. A considerable portion of our army took the 
 direction of Tuscany, and received from the in- 
 
.sL'irio i)i: Kicci. 31 ;i 
 
 habitants the kindest and most generous tieatnient. 
 The Government itself had issued the strictest or- 
 ders to that eflect, before being called upon to 
 do so." 
 
 Addressing himself to Leopold, the author ex- 
 claims : " I have seen you, myself, assiduously en- 
 gaged in promoting the happiness of your people, and 
 braving the hatred and the calunmy of the aristo- 
 cracy in order to establish its liberty on the basis 
 of equality ; removing with a bold and firm hand 
 the foundations of superstition ; listening attentively 
 to, and even encouraging by thy paternal voice, the 
 poor inhabitants of the country, and entering into 
 the most minute details, in order to relieve them 
 from oppression, and indemnify them in some mea- 
 sure for their past sufferings ; enacting laws in ac- 
 cordance with the soundest and most philanthropic 
 theories, not only foi* the purpose of repressing 
 crime, but also in order to dry up its principal 
 sources ; encouraging the arts, agriculture, and com- 
 merce, by the most generous sacrifices ; personally 
 honouring and rewarding the learned ; inviting them 
 as friends to visit your family, and holding out those 
 of them who were most distinguished for probity 
 and modesty as examples for the imitation of your 
 children. Equally humane, beneficent, and enlight- 
 ened as Trajan or as Julian : you have shown much 
 more wisdom in the choice of a counsellor, a friend 
 and co-adjutor ; it is to confidence and friendship 
 
314 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 that you have been indebted for the magnanimous 
 courage displayed by you in trampling on prejudice, 
 removing pomp and armed guards from the throne, 
 and finally, resigning the royal prerogative in order 
 to become the father of your subjects, and the 
 founder of their liberty. " 
 
 " A free press is not established in Tuscany by 
 any specific law ; but it exists nevertheless as an 
 important part of the commercial system. In proof 
 of this fact, it is only necessary to mention, that six 
 editions have been printed of the works of Macchi- 
 avel, who is undoubtedly one of the ablest opponents 
 of despotism, and one of the warmest fi*iends of de- 
 mocracy ; and that all the newspapers of France 
 and of the Italian Republics are freely admitted and 
 freely circulated. The following anecdote may, how- 
 ever, be deemed more to the purpose. A Tuscan, 
 who had been banished in the time of Leopold for 
 his unwortliy conduct, published an atrocious libel 
 upon him, in the Cisalpine Repuljlic, entitled * The 
 private Life of Leopold,' &c. The booksellers re- 
 ceived a considerable number of copies of the work, 
 and exposed it for sale. The Grand-duke did not 
 conceive himself authorized either to prohibit its 
 importation or sale, and contented himself with 
 requesting tlie booksellers not to contrilnite to the 
 circulation of a libel which was contrary to truth, 
 to justice, and to filial piety." 
 
 We shall subjoin a few remarks on the ^^^'^ 
 
SCIPIO DE IIICCI. 315 
 
 from which these extracts are taken, in order to 
 establish for it tliat character of truth and impar- 
 tiality which history demands. 
 
 Having been published a short time before the first 
 occupation of Tuscauy by the French, every thing, 
 we willingly allow, is seen in the most pleasing light. 
 It is false that the Grand-duke religiously ob- 
 served the legislative code drawn up by Leopold. 
 On the contrary, he repealed several of its principal 
 provisions, as soon as he mounted the throne ; such, 
 for example, as the unlimited freedom of trade, 
 which is the source of so much prosperity. These 
 fatal measures were entirely owing to the ministers 
 of Leopold himself, who were the most inveterate 
 enemies of the philanthropic plans of their master, 
 and who took advantage of the youth and inexpe- 
 rience of his successor, to promote their own ma- 
 lignant ends. 
 
 Before the entrance of the French, ministers less 
 interested than those in the support of ancient pre- 
 judices, began to see matters in the same light as 
 the nation, and the Prince re-established by degrees 
 the wise laws which had been enacted by his father. 
 It is not true that the clergy exercised no influence 
 on the minds of the people ; they have even still a great 
 deal, and abuse it in the most scandalous manner. 
 
 The present truly philosophical and liberal mi- 
 nistry, being aware of the evils arising from at- 
 tempting, like Leopold, to regulate every thing, has 
 
"i\6 iAIKMOIIlS OF 
 
 adopted as a general rule of conduct that maxim 
 of political economy and good government, which 
 tliough so very necessary to the daily happiness of 
 the people, if the expression may be allowed, seems 
 everywhere else to have been entirely lost sight of. 
 It is, to interfere as little as possible in the way 
 of governing, and to allow matters to regulate them- 
 selves. The maxim, however, is perhaps carried a 
 little too far in regard to tlie clergy, whom it is 
 necessary to be as active in restraining, as they are 
 zealous in usurping, and who, if they are not checked 
 in the very beginning, possess the art of conjoining 
 in an imperceptible manner, ignorance with devo- 
 tion, devotion with superstition, and superstition 
 with fanaticism. It is ignorance which is the cause 
 of the evil ; it is ignorance, therefore, which it is 
 most necessary to attack and to destroy. 
 
 A few months after the publication of his work 
 on Tuscany, the author had an opportunity of con- 
 vincing himself of the facility with which mana^u- 
 vring (farceurs) priests, as he calls them, could be- 
 come not only leaders and instigators of the people, 
 but even the cause of murder and bloodshed. He 
 had an opportunity of seeing, in fact, how very easily 
 a mild and polished race of men could be metamor- 
 phosed into hordes of cannibals and wild beasts. 
 
 Tliere were committed in Tuscany upon his com- 
 panions in arms (we use his own exjiressions) in the 
 name of the favourites of popular credulity, and espe- 
 
SCIPIO DE Rice I. 317 
 
 cially under the staiitlard of tlie Virgin, actions ot 
 such inicjuitous cruelty, that the blood runs cold at 
 the bare relation of them. Several Jews were burnt 
 at Siena ; the monks of Leghorn were seen attend- 
 ing the hospitals for the purpose of preparing for 
 death those patriots who had been wounded by a 
 ferocious and fanatic populace, and with the same 
 breath stirring it up to give the finishing blow to its 
 victims ; while a professor of the University of Pisa 
 has given circulation to an infamous and wicked 
 doctrine, in which he not only coolly attempts to 
 justify these horrors and outrages, but commands 
 them in the name of God and of the Bible. 
 
 Happily, public opinion, that invincible organ, 
 now rises up every where, even in bigoted and su- 
 perstitious Tuscany, against mummeries fully as dan- 
 gerous as they are ridiculous ; and still more for- 
 tunate is it for the Tuscans that their Prince, who 
 erred for a short time, but whose intentions it has 
 been found impossible to pervert, is willing to yield 
 to the calls of that opinion, and has been the first to 
 obey it. Ferdinand the Third, especially after the 
 restoration of the small Italian states, has nobly and 
 boldly resisted every anti-social impulse, from what- 
 ever minister it came. He saw clearly, that nothing 
 short of absolute madness could think of substitu- 
 ting a narrow, selfish, and personal interest for the 
 interest of the public — an interest which is always 
 just, which is founded on enlightened opinion, and 
 
318 MEMOIRS or 
 
 which unites the rights and the happiness of so many 
 millions of men. 
 
 Leopold the Second, his son and successor, is 
 aware of the duties imposed upon him by the glo- 
 rious name which has been given to him, and will 
 not disappoint the reliance and hopes which all the 
 nations of Europe, now substantially interested by 
 the most holy bands in the happiness of one another, 
 have confided in him. 
 
 May the princes who resemble him., also feel that 
 their interests are strictly united with the wishes of 
 the age ! What a glorious title to immortality 
 would they acquire by compelling their successors 
 to take them for models ! The revolutions which 
 have taken place, have shaken the very foundations 
 of civilized society. Men are not now content to 
 fall asleep in the lap of an ephemeral happiness. 
 They are desirous of tasting that happiness, because 
 it is equally the property of all ; they wish to con- 
 tribute to its promotion, because such is the end of 
 their uniting themselves together as a people ; they 
 are determined to defend it, because it is their right 
 and privilege. Despots, however paternal we may 
 imagine them, are now equally guilty of injustice 
 towards the people whom they govern, as tyrants 
 formerly were of barbarity towards the multitudes 
 whom they destroyed. Despotic power is at all 
 times unlawful, even in the hands of those who do 
 not convert it to bad purposes ; it is an injustice to 
 
scirio DE uicci. 319 
 
 the weak, whom it lias tlie means of oppressing, and 
 who will spare no pains to withdraw himself from 
 the huuiiliatin<^ happiness which is imposed upon 
 him. Let kings submit to receive a code of duties, 
 and they will at the same time receive a code of 
 rights, which it will be impossible to invade. But 
 let us return to the affairs of Tuscany. 
 
 It is public opinion which has given birth to, and 
 supported the ministry of the Grand-duchy, — the 
 only one, perhaps, in all Europe, which can boast of 
 such support. 
 
 It remains for us to say a few words in regard to 
 " The private Life of Leopold." If the importation 
 and sale of that abominable libel be not prohibited 
 in Tuscany, it ought to be observed, to the honour 
 of the Tuscans, that they do not abuse the freedom 
 which they enjoy in this respect. The compiler of 
 these notes found much difficulty, and consumed a 
 great deal of time, in discovering a copy of the work, 
 which he at last obtained from a gentleman curious 
 in regard to books, who, before lending it, deemed 
 it necessary to express his indignation (which he 
 declared to be the general feeling of his countryinen) 
 against the odious author of that tissue of calumny 
 and atrocity. The author of " The private Life of 
 Leopold" does not exhibit a single particle of sense, 
 except when he reproaches that Prince with the fa- 
 tal system of espionage, which he established in his 
 states, for preventing the commission of sin as well 
 
320 MEMOIRS OF- 
 
 as of Clime, and wliicli only succeeded in debasing 
 one part of the nation, and enervating the remainder. 
 Deprived of that species of courage and of energy, 
 which sometimes, indeed, lead to the commission of 
 great crimes, but witiiout which also no great vir- 
 tues can possibly exist, the population of the capital, 
 in a more especial manner, from being most exposed 
 to the paternal interference of Leoi)old, has acquired 
 a habit of petty wickedness and dissembled perfidy, 
 which leave to cowardice and meanness all the ex- 
 ternal varnish of dissimulation and mildness. 
 
 What is most remarkable in the matter is, that 
 Beccatini, (such was the name of the libeller) who 
 reproaches Leopold so bitterly with having given 
 his confidence to the Sheriff Chelotti, whom he had 
 raised to the post of Minister of the Police, had 
 himself been one of the meanest creatures of that 
 upstart, and one of the most impudent of those in- 
 formers who distuibed the peace of families by their 
 scandalous tales in the name of the Tuscan legis- 
 lator. He was exiled along with his despicable ac- 
 complices, when the Grand-duke became aware of 
 the abuse which these pests of his reign made of his 
 imprudent curiosity and unlucky desire to do and 
 to be informed of every thing. The name of Becca- 
 tini, along with those of his equals, was found upon 
 the infamous list of intriguers and venders of smoke, 
 whom Leopold devoted to tlie contempt of their 
 countrymen. Having withdrawn to Naples, that 
 
sciPio Dr. RTCci. 321 
 
 writer published a " Private Lile of Leopold," who 
 requested the Court of the Two Sicilies to permit it 
 to be freely circulated. The book Avas reprinted 
 at Milan, and dated from Siena in 1797, with the 
 author's corrections, of whom the Cisalpine Republic 
 was not long in ridding itself by banishment. 
 
 ^ II. In an Italian pamphlet entitled " A View 
 of Tuscany after the Peace of Luneville, — by a 
 Tuscan, and a true friend to his country :" Genoa, 
 May 1st, 1801 ; printed by Frugoni,* we read as 
 follows : 
 
 " The government of Francis of Lorraine was 
 ruinous to Tuscany, as is always the case with pro- 
 vincial governments, whose duties are executed by 
 regencies, invested with the name and authority 
 of the sovereign, but actually animated by the spirit 
 and will of the ministry. Every species of extortion 
 was put in practice to diminish the resources and 
 drain the purses of the inhabitants : general misery 
 prevailed throughout the country, which was still 
 farther increased and hastened, by the arrival in 
 Tuscany of foreign financiers, and by the establish- 
 ment of a system of restriction which crippled every 
 branch of industry, interfered by its vexatious pro- 
 visions with every department of commerce, and 
 by exorbitant taxes impoverished the landed pro- 
 prietors. Hence a diminution of the national pros- 
 perity, the decay of agriculture, and the gradual 
 
 * " Una Occhiata alia Toscana," &c. 
 VOL. I. Y 
 
322 MEMonis ov 
 
 disappearance of the population, successively follow- 
 ed ; whilst the whole country was a prey to desola- 
 tion, which the Prince himself saw not, and of which 
 his ministers carefully concealed from him even the 
 slightest traces, 
 
 " To times so deplorable in every respect for Tus- 
 cany, succeeded the reign of Peter Leopold. In the 
 course of a few months that Prince discovered the 
 unfortunate situation of the country ; found out its 
 true causes, and had the good sense to perceive how 
 much a Prince is interested in the good or bad 
 fortune experienced by his people. With the most 
 praiseworthy courage he formed a plan for restoring 
 public prosperity, and establishing it on the basis of 
 equal liberty, of impartial justice, and of benevolence 
 without bounds. He knew enough to comprehend 
 that this prosperity could only be sufficiently gua- 
 ranteed by a careful policy, totally free from any 
 alliance which could connect it with the fortunes of 
 the lesser or greater powers of Europe. Tuscany 
 was not long in exhibiting the beneficent effects of 
 this salutary plan. Every day she made rapid strides 
 towards prosperity, re-acquired that happiness which 
 she had lost, and even far exceeded the progress 
 which she had hitheito made in the career of civili- 
 zation, in point of national wealth, national moral- 
 ity, and the prodigious increase of her population. 
 It is not at all necessary to adduce proofs of this 
 glorious success, for there are numbers of foreigners 
 
sciPio DE iiicci. 323 
 
 now alive who saw Tuscany at a period when they 
 could not fail to admire her government, and envy 
 her happy lot, and who can state so much on that 
 head, as to render it altogether useless to say any 
 thing farther in regard to it. 
 
 "Ferdinand the Third was presented with that 
 small state, in which all the elements of prosperity 
 already existed — in which the most perfect pub- 
 lic good was the necessary result of a Government 
 which had no other end in view, and to the promo- 
 tion of which every thing concurred in a manner as 
 advantageous, as it was unknown in the history of 
 nations. But, unfortunately, that mysterious fatality 
 which presides over the destinies of kingdoms and 
 nations, and which places insurmountable barriers to 
 their good or their evil fortune, determined that the 
 reign of Ferdinand should only be one continued 
 succession of schemes and measures, in diametrical 
 opposition to those of Leopold, and all of them tend- 
 ing, in the most direct manner, to overthrow and 
 destroy the system which he had established.* 
 
 * It gives us much pleasure to repeat, that if the impartial 
 writer, whose reflections we are translating, were to visit Tus- 
 cany now, he would willingly allow that the present Govern- 
 ment of that beautiful country, as well as the Government of 
 Ferdinand the Third, since 1814, is only a result of the consti- 
 tutional system of Leopold. The ministers now in oiHce are 
 guided by the ideas and maxims of that Prince ; they profess the 
 same principles as he did, and even go the length of executing 
 
 V o 
 
324 INIEMOIRS OF 
 
 " The Prince had no personal vices likely to shock 
 the feelings of his people ; but the example of pomp 
 and luxury exhibited by his court, along with an ill- 
 understood system of religious toleration, annihi- 
 lated, in an instant, all that had been done by the 
 simplicity and austerity of Leopold to add temper- 
 ance and prudence to the other virtues of the nation. 
 The wealth of the people disappeared as soon as free- 
 dom of trade had been abolished, and restrictions of 
 the most rigid nature were imposed on the merchants, 
 for the regulation of places and markets, the price 
 and transport of provisions, and the freedom of ex- 
 ercising any branch of business. At the same time 
 the public offices vmder Government were re-con- 
 verted into so many private privileges ; the commu- 
 nal expenses were exhibited in round sums, in order 
 to conceal the creation of new contributions, or the 
 increase of the old ; and a scarcity was feigned, in 
 order to prevent the common people from perceiving 
 the monopoly which was attempted to be exercised 
 under the specious pretence of a public provision. 
 The stores, which were established for that pur- 
 pose, were dissipated in secret gifts, in order to 
 skreen the prodigality of the court and the dilapida- 
 tion of the courtiers, and in bribes to ministerial 
 
 his philanthropic schemes, as far as the situation of their 
 country, that privileged spot in the middle of Italy, will 
 allow them. 
 
SCIPIO DE KICCI. 325 
 
 agents. The national debt was increased to a 
 frightfiil extent by every known and unknown 
 means, and the prosperity of the State vanished 
 amidst the complaints of the people, who had no 
 idea of the causes of their calamities. 
 
 " All that was wanting to com})lete the ruin of 
 the Prince, and of the nation, was a false scheme 
 of political alliance with foreign States. Accordingly, 
 the system which had preserved Tuscany from the 
 calamities of war during many centuries, and which 
 in the time of the last Government had been scru- 
 pulously observed, was changed also in this respect. 
 Neutrality was violated in several instances, until it 
 became necessary at last to have recourse to arms. 
 But it would be unjust to accuse Ferdinand the 
 Third of being the cause of all these misfortunes : 
 for that Prince erred without any evil design, and 
 even without its affording grounds to consider him 
 either wild or capricious. All that can be said on 
 the subject is, that the incapacity of some of his mi- 
 nisters, and the foolish counsels of the others, opened 
 the way to all the disasters which succeeded one 
 another so rapidly and so unexpectedly. 
 
 " Ferdinand, whether driven from his throne, or 
 voluntarily flying from it, allowed Tuscany, already 
 considerably weakened and exhausted, to fall into the 
 hands of a Government (that of the French) whose 
 rights were founded on conquest, and which in a 
 short period, by its spoliations, its requisitions, and 
 
326 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 the excessive consumption ol its armies, completely 
 destroyed it," &c, 
 
 § III. Another pamphlet, with the following title, 
 " Advice to the Tuscans, by citizen Doctor Joseph 
 Castinelli ; Discourse First," Tuscany, 1799,* ex- 
 presses itself thus : 
 
 " Under the Government of Peter Leopold, the 
 Tuscans were on the one hand invited to taste the 
 sweets conferred by liberty on a regenerated people ; 
 and on the other, so humbled and debased as neither 
 to possess political opinion, nor public spirit. 
 
 *' At the present time, the French, after ten years 
 of dissension and revolution, under a democratic 
 Republic, scarcely enjoy the advantages which, at the 
 period of their Revolution, were possessed by the 
 Tuscans, under a despotic and absolute form of 
 Government. 
 
 " The unrestrained freedom of trade removed 
 every obstruction that was odious to the nation, 
 rendered the country fertile, and eniiched the cul- 
 tivator. The taxes were moderate, and scarcely 
 felt. The most impartial administration of justice, 
 both civil and criminal, made the poor and the rich, 
 the plebeian and the nobleman, equal in the eye of 
 the law, removed all possibility of corruption from 
 the courts, and every shadow of abuse of authority 
 from the judges. No class of citizens was favoured 
 
 *= a 
 
 Prudente Consiglio ai Toscaiii," &c. 
 
sciPio \)E iiicci. 327 
 
 by the grant of exclusive rights and privileges to the 
 detriment of another; the nohihty had no other 
 prerogative or distinction, but that of associating in 
 ia palace called Casino at their own expense, and of 
 wearing a cross which, from being despised in the 
 first place by the Prince, was soon afterwards de- 
 spised by every one else. The destruction of feudal 
 rights, the suppression of rights in trust {Jideicommis), 
 the abolition of capital punishment,* the jurisdiction 
 of the clergy and the tyranny of the Court of Rome 
 shaken to their very foundations ; the enactment of 
 numerous laws tending to destroy the influence and 
 power of the aristocracy, to favour a greater divi- 
 sion of property, and to increase the personal liberty 
 of the subject,— ail tended to render the Government 
 of Peter Leopold famous among polished nations, 
 and to deprive the Tuscans of all wish to procure, 
 by means of a revolution, advantages which they 
 already enjoyed in so high a degree. 
 
 " On the other hand, that Prince, desirous of 
 uniting the happiness of his people with the exercise 
 of absolute and despotic authority, allows himself 
 to become guilty of the most tyrannical acts ; to 
 give way to arbitrary enterprises and proceedings ; 
 to carry his vices and dissolute manners to excess, 
 whilst he demands from his subjects the regularity 
 
 * M. De Potter has here inserted a rather tedious criticism of 
 the "Soirees de Petersbourgk" of M. le Comte de IMaistre, which 
 it is of no importance to translate. — Ed. 
 
328 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 and cliastity of the convent ; to maintain and to 
 encourage the most despicable and insulting system 
 of espionage, and to persecute those who exhibit 
 any superiority of talent or of genius.* Although 
 these despotic measures only affected a very small 
 portion of his subjects, without altering in any re- 
 spect the fundamental maxims of the government 
 and legislative system, they nevertheless had a 
 tendency to impress on the whole nation a character 
 of excessive mildness, and to extinguish its native 
 energy. 
 
 * This last assertion is false : the whole tenor of Ricci's life 
 is a proof of it. Leopold Avas fond of men of superior talents, 
 and employed them whenever they were brought to his know- 
 ledge. In regard to his despotism, his incontinence, and his 
 degrading system of espionage, it is impossible to doubt their 
 existence. His incontinence was a personal M'eakness, and his 
 espionage a fatal error arising from his desire to render his 
 subjects perfect. His despotism (which, however, we do not 
 approve, for, when employed as a means, it frequently ruins the 
 most liberal plans,) was only intended to dispose matters better, 
 or at all events sooner, for the neAv system of liberty which he 
 proposed to introduce for the Avelfare of Tuscany. Though wa 
 had not his constitution to adduce in support of this statement, 
 it would be quite sufficient to recollect that Leopold used every 
 endeavour to diffuse information throughout his dominions, and 
 to purify the morals of his subjects ;— measures which certainly 
 tended to promote law and morality in liis States, and to 
 form a virtuous, enlightened, bold, and free people. The only 
 despotism which ought really to be dreaded, is that of those jirc- 
 tended paternal tyrants, who witli a leaden sceptre brutalize 
 their people, by means of ignorance and corrui)tion. 
 
scii'io i)E jucci. 329 
 
 " Peter Leopold, lioui u wisli to know and to 
 direct every thing himself, reigned without minis- 
 ters, and did not permit those whom he employed 
 to take any decided part in the affairs of govern- 
 ment * so that, being deprived of every means of 
 instruction, and of every motive to emulation, there 
 was no one in Tuscany, at the period of the French 
 revolution, if we except a kw men of letters, who 
 had any thing like a knowledge of the first elements 
 of politics. In general, the meaning of the technical 
 expressions used in the science was totally unknown. 
 
 '' The Tuscans accordingly felt but little interest 
 in public affairs, and were animated with a very 
 small portion of patriotism. Every one was occu- 
 j)ied with his own immediate interests, as might 
 naturally have been expected from the legislative 
 system of Leopold. This apathy was carried to 
 such an extent, that that Prince, though destitute 
 of soldiers or fortresses, was enabled to pass what 
 laws he pleased, to attack reigning opinions and 
 popular prejudices, and to exercise the most arbi- 
 trary and despotic authority, without entertaining 
 
 * The Senator Francis Gianni, (the autlior of the Memoirs 
 on the Constitutional project of Leopold,) a citizen deserving of 
 the highest eulogiuui, who rendered the greatest services to his 
 country by his talents and his patriotism, and who had the 
 merit of suggesting the best laws enacted by Leopold. He was 
 in consequence an object of hatred to the late Government, (that 
 of F'erdinand the Third, before the invasion,) and to all the 
 aristocracy. — -Doctor Castinelli. 
 
330 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 the least dread of dissatisfaction on the part of the 
 people. 
 
 " The nobility and clergy were the principal com- 
 plainants against a system so contrary to their 
 interests. When Ferdinand the Third ascended the 
 throne, an attempt was made to induce him to 
 pursue a contrary line of conduct. The political 
 edifice erected by Leopold was in consequence nearly 
 overturned, and his legislative measures were con- 
 siderably modified and altered. 
 
 " The system of free trade was abolished ; a new 
 criminal code was introduced ; the ministry arro- 
 gated to itself the highest authority and influence ; 
 the clergy acquired a part of the jurisdiction of 
 which they had been deprived ; while in the filling 
 up of public offices the nobles were chosen and pre- 
 ferred to every other class of citizens.* 
 
 " The pacific character of the Grand-duke Fer- 
 dinand, and the political insinuations of the Marquis 
 Manfredini, gave to the new Government a tone of 
 mildness and apparent moderation. The ministry 
 frequently changed even the very essence of this 
 system, by giving way to private persecution and 
 rigour, under some false pretext or for some specious 
 
 * Almost all the reforms of Leopold have been re-established, 
 except those relating to religious confraternities, which the 
 Government have allowed to increase as much as the most 
 devout could possibly have desired. 
 
SCIl^IO DK RICCl. 331 
 
 motive, without however shocking or ofFending the 
 generality of the citizens. 
 
 " Whilst these things were going on, agriculture 
 had made rapid i)rogress in Tuscany — a necessary 
 consequence of tlie freedom of trade, which was not 
 abolished till 1792. Tlie port of Leghorn, in con- 
 sequence of its situation and some favourable circum- 
 stances, had become an al)undant source of wealth, 
 so that the Tuscans were enjoying the sweets of an 
 easy and agreeable life, at a time when the other 
 nations of Europe were sufiering all the evils result- 
 ing from anarchy and war. 
 
 " Thus situated, what could have induced them 
 to think of revolution ? What wise man, what pa- 
 triot could have desired it ? 
 
 " The very small number of persons who knew 
 the value of liberty and equality, studied the princi- 
 ples proclaimed by the French nation, and offered 
 up prayers for their success ; but they saw clearly 
 that there existed no one reason for proposing their 
 adoption in Tuscany, where neither the causes nor 
 the evils existed which had given rise to the French 
 revolution, and where a greater share of happiness 
 was enjoyed than in those countries whose govern- 
 ment and constitution had been remodelled." * 
 
 ^ IV. " Five years of good government, (says the 
 Advocate Giusti, whose work has been already 
 
 * " Prudente Consiglio," &c. chap. 3, Reflections on Tuscany, 
 pp. 22-2(i. 
 
332 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 quoted,*) under an enlightened and philosophical 
 Prince, had rendered Etruria an object of admira- 
 tion to all the nations of the world. Learned and 
 virtuous men filled the most important offices in 
 the State. A mild and humane Government had 
 stamped upon the whole nation a character of mo- 
 deration and goodness, which rendered it the delight 
 of Italy. Great crimes were of such rare occurrence, 
 that the Tuscans looked upon them as extraordinary 
 phenomena, such as are occasionally witnessed in 
 the convulsions of Nature. For several months, the 
 prisons were completely empty, and no such thing 
 was heard of as crimes, prosecutions, or punishments. 
 The virtuous Prince who governed us at that time 
 has obtained the reward due to a just man, — that of 
 witnessing the happy effects resulting from a legisla- 
 tion founded on the principles of justice and philo- 
 sophy. 
 
 " Those who, from interest or ambition, were de- 
 sirous of retaining existing abuses, became the 
 despised spectators of that happy revolution, and were 
 equally devoid of influence and power to arrest its 
 progress. Men, however, who are actuated by such 
 motives, are always ready to take advantage of any 
 favourable opportunity of ingratiating themselves 
 with the Government ; and accordingly, having failed 
 of success with the father, these personages made 
 
 * *' Difesa di Antonio Landi, Antonio Fiaiavanti," &c. pp. 
 15-17. 
 
SCIPIO DE IMCCI. 333 
 
 use of the simplicity and good disi)ositions of the son, 
 to render him subject to their influence and control. 
 Those friends of Leopold to whom Tuscan)-- was 
 indebted for every thing which she enjoyed, were re- 
 duced to absolute nullity. His laws were, one after 
 another, altered, suspended, or abrogated ; in one 
 word, under the reign of Ferdinand, Tuscany de- 
 cidedly retrograded in every thing which could con- 
 tribute to render her happy.* 
 
 " The French had acquired, and were in pos- 
 session of Tuscany. Persons of merit were again 
 sought out, and drawn from their retreats to take 
 charge of the affairs of the nation. A new dawn 
 glimmered upon Tuscany, that promised a return of 
 those bright days which she enjoyed under Leopold. 
 But that dawn was of short duration ; tlie fate of 
 war destroyed at once, on the borders of the Trebbia, 
 the hopes and expectations of all who felt an interest 
 in her welfare.'* 
 
 J V. A pamphlet, likewise printed and published 
 in 1799? but without mentioning where it was print- 
 ed, entitled " Aspect of Tuscany, after its occupa- 
 tion by the French," contains the following obser- 
 vations.! 
 
 * De Potter remarks on this passage, that although Ferdinand 
 had been at first guilty of several gross mistakes in the govern- 
 ment of his people, he had, after his restoration, made ample 
 amends, by adopting the principles of his predecessor. 
 
 t " Prospetto de la Toscana dopo 1' occupazione de' Francesi." 
 1799. 
 
334 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 " A government of only three months duration, 
 under Reinhard, (French commissioner at Florence 
 after the departure of Ferdinand the Third,) de- 
 stroyed Avhat it had cost Leopold so much trouble 
 to establish. That philosophical despot had, by a 
 code of wise laws, prepared his subjects for demo- 
 cracy. The freedom of trade, the new code of 
 criminal law, the equality established among his 
 subjects, the institution of popular assemblies, the 
 check given to the tyranny of the Pope and the 
 fanaticism of superstition, had already disposed the 
 minds of men to receiv^e a new order of things, of 
 which he was himself desirous of being the author. 
 Whether it was that Leopold was convinced of the 
 sacred nature of the principles of social liberty — 
 whether it was that he was ambitious of beino; the 
 founder of a new system of government — whether 
 it was that he was desirous of removing the obsta- 
 cles which impeded his despotic views, or whatever 
 other motive influenced him, it is past all doubt 
 that he paved the way for liberty in Tuscany ; and 
 that Tuscany enjoyed freedom during his reign, be- 
 cause he put himself on a level, in the eye of the 
 law, with every subject in his dominions. 
 
 " Ferdinand, his son and successor, giving way to 
 an excess of circumspection, through dread of erring, 
 destitute of experience in public affairs, on account 
 of his youth, and naturally of an indolent disposi- 
 tion, readily yielded the reins of government to his 
 
SCIPIO DE IMCCI. 335 
 
 ministers. They, being all inimical to the plans pur- 
 sued by his father, restored to the nobility the odious 
 privileges which they had formerly possessed, re- 
 established the system of superstition whicli had 
 been abolished, and destroying, by little and little, 
 all the measures of their former sovereign, used every 
 endeavour to reduce the people to the same state of 
 slavery in which he had found them. So true is it 
 that the happiness of a State is always precarious and 
 uncertain, when the caprice of an individual is the 
 only law, when it is not governed by a constitution 
 which has emanated from the people, and when the 
 authority of the magistrates, who preside over its 
 affairs, is not limited to the shortest possible period 
 of time. In one word, no general prosperity or hap- 
 piness can exist, where there is no civil liberty. 
 
 " All the efforts of Manfredini and Seratti to 
 extinguish the love of liberty in the hearts of the 
 Tuscans, terminated imsuccessfully. Both of them 
 had the same object in view, and both of them 
 adopted different plans for attaining it. The one 
 employed every species of Macchiavelian finesse ; 
 the other attached himself to superstition, which 
 required no finesse. Knowledge was, however, too 
 generally diffused in Tuscany to admit of any re- 
 newal of superiority over it on the part of the other 
 States of Italy. Tuscany was in fact the best pre- 
 pared for a change in the social system ; a change 
 which one might almost say would have been com- 
 
336 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 pleted in it by substituting, in addition to the in- 
 stitutions of Leopold, a legislative body in the place 
 of Ferdinand.* The French Government, however, 
 after having by its monstrous policy delayed until 
 these latter times the expulsion of that Prince, only 
 placed a Republican Commissioner on the throne, 
 who reigns so much the more despotically, because 
 he has it in his power to veil his tyranny with the 
 mantle of pretended liberty." 
 
 ^ V^I. Finally, in order to terminate this note in 
 regard to the situation of Tuscany, (considered as 
 the result of that system of legislation introduced 
 by Leopold, and of the errors committed by those 
 who attempted to pursue a different plan,) we shall 
 give some fragments of a work in manuscript, w'rit- 
 ten by Senator Gianni, the worthy minister of Leo- 
 pold, and the author of those reflections on his 
 constitutional project, to w^hich every thing ^vhich 
 we have said, after giving the details of that project, 
 is only intended to serve as a commentary. 
 
 The manuscript is signed by Francis Maria Gianni, 
 and dated Genoa, 15th September, 1800. It is 
 entitled " Memoir intended for my worthy friend. 
 Senator Bartolini," who was the last senator added 
 
 * De Potter remarks on this passage with considerable 
 warmth, and insists that the only thing necessary for completing 
 the prosperity and happiness of Tuscany, was a legislative body 
 not in place of the Sovereign, but in addition to him. 
 
SCIPIO DE lUCCI. 3.37 
 
 to the Regency before tlie second invasion of the 
 French.* 
 
 The Memoir is in the hands of every Tuscan, and 
 contains a defence of the pubHc hfe of Gianni, espe- 
 cially during the first occupation of Tuscany, when 
 he accepted the office of Minister of Fhiance in the 
 new Republic. Men of probity and sense, who were 
 more attached to the welfare of their country than 
 to the success of a party, required no such defence 
 from Gianni, and we shall therefore only extract 
 from it what is of public and general importance. 
 
 The senator comments at great length on the 
 very grave error of most governments, in separating 
 the grandeur, the interests, and the welfare of the 
 sovereign, from the grandeur, interests, and welfare 
 of the people, which are and ought always to be 
 considered as one and the same. He attributes to 
 this fatal error all the misfortunes of Tuscany, and 
 those of every country in which a revolution has 
 become unavoidable. 
 
 He next proceeds to the consideration of the pub- 
 lic debt of Tuscany. 
 
 " In regard to the public debt of Tuscany, I must 
 beg leave to remind you that, however enormous its 
 
 * " Memoria per il degno amico, il senatore Bartolini." 
 Bartolini died before the JMemoir could have been sent to 
 him. Gianni addressed it to the person whom he deemed most 
 able and willing to use it for the benefit of Tuscany. 
 VOL. I. Z 
 
iJ38 MEMOIKS OF 
 
 amount, I never entertained the least dread of it. 
 If tliat debt had not been renewed and increased at 
 the time when it liad ahnost been extinguished, it 
 is possible that Tuscany would have suffered fewer 
 evils than slie has now to endure. But at that time 
 it was a matter of little importance. The measure 
 was one of Leopold, who had become so obnoxious, 
 and was overthrown through hatred of its author, 
 after having been applauded by foreigners, and 
 blamed only by the Tuscans, — that is to say, by 
 those who had an interest in crushing it. Such a 
 measure could not now be carried into effect. Public 
 confidence is destroyed ; private wealth has changed 
 its place, and been transferred into other hands than 
 those originally possessed of it." 
 
 " The present is not the time for deceiving one's 
 self by useless subterfuges, or unfounded reflections. 
 Tuscany, until 1791, was the only state whose 
 finances exhibited no deficit. Now our finances are 
 entirely and irrevocably ruined. The only step 
 which remains for us to take is to commence a new 
 system, to regulate our affairs in future with more 
 prudence, and intrust them to those who understand 
 their management." 
 
 * * * * # * 
 
 " Our internal policy ought to be purely defensive, 
 and always characterized by a spirit of loyalty and 
 good faith towards other powers. All interference 
 
sciPio UE Kiccr. 339 
 
 in a diplomatic character (whicli could only tend 
 to make us despised and ridiculed,) ought to be 
 avoided. 
 
 " \Vhoever attempts to inspire the Grand-duke 
 with vain ideas of the attitude which he ought to 
 assume in regard to foreign powers, is sure by doing 
 so, to render him ridiculous. 
 
 *• Such also must be the result of all endeavours 
 to render him ambitious of distinction among the 
 sovereigns of Europe, or of assuming a rank among 
 them which is not warranted by the importance of 
 his dominions. He would become their dependent, 
 and at the same time the object of their contempt. 
 To be convinced of this truth, we have only to con- 
 sult the history of the follies of the government of 
 the Medici, (sufficient to fill a very large volume,) 
 who in the end, notwithstanding their utmost en- 
 deavours, obtained neither grandeur nor power, nor 
 wealth, nor rights, and were obliged to content 
 themselves with the empty titles given them by 
 foreign powers in affairs of ceremony, or in the ad- 
 dresses of despatches. 
 
 " "WTioever attempts to enrich the Grand-duke of 
 Tuscany at tlie expense of his people, is sure of 
 ruining him, and of preparing for his country, on a 
 small scale, those evils to which I alluded in relating 
 the history of the Kings of France. These kings 
 accepted the services and listened to the counsels of 
 those ministers and courtiers who separated them 
 
 z 2 
 
340 iVFEMOiRs or 
 
 from the nation, with the view of augmenting their 
 autliority, their power, and their wealth, in order to 
 establish that despotism which destroyed and buried 
 them under the ruins of their country. France still 
 exists, but its kings no longer reign." 
 
 ****** 
 
 " The maintenance of strict neutrality preserved 
 Tuscany from tlie evils of war during many centu- 
 ries ; and Leghorn, which was more particularly 
 benefited by it, became the centre of the commerce 
 and trade of those nations who were weak enoug-h 
 to engage in it. This wise policy has however given 
 place to errors suggested by a narrow and mercantile 
 spirit, which grounds all its calculations on present 
 circumstances ; — errors which were adopted as strokes 
 of policy by those who were at tlie helm of govern- 
 ment, either from an inconsiderate disregard of the 
 future, or because they were but imperfectly ac- 
 quainted with the true interests of Tuscany. Hence 
 it has not unfrequently happened in the course of 
 our history, that the interests of Legliorn have been 
 at variance with the interests of the rest of the 
 Grand-duchy. 
 
 " Such errors, it may be said, only became appa- 
 rent after the time of the Medici ; as before that 
 period, the only infractions of the neutral system 
 were of an individual nature, and committed by com- 
 mandants and governors from motives of avarice. 
 Afterwards, however, irregularities increased to such 
 
SCIl'lO DK lilCCI. 341 
 
 a degree, and were repeated so often, and so sliaine- 
 fully, as to become the sulycct of formal negotiations. 
 Our professions of neutrality will therefore now find 
 but few believers, and can inspire but little confi- 
 dence. This ought not, however, to prevent us from 
 proclaiming it in the face of Europe, or from using 
 every effort to preserve it humbly and faithfully to- 
 wards other States." 
 
 Senator Gianni very wisely proposes as the only 
 proper remedy for all the internal evils of the State, 
 " to organize a system of government which shall 
 enable the nation, in a legitimate manner, to carry 
 its complaints to the foot of the throne, and to de- 
 mand and propose the adoption of measures likely 
 to satisfy them. He wishes the sovereign, on his 
 part, to take the advice of the people, and to receive 
 from them the information and knowledge which he 
 requires. This information is much more likely to 
 exist amongst the people, who are all interested in 
 the welfare of the State, than among ministers and 
 courtiers, who, however well-intentioned they may 
 be, generally give to their masters the most perni- 
 cious counsels, from pure ignorance of what it is im- 
 possible for them either to know or to feel in the 
 same way, and to the same degree, as the subject 
 who suffers and enjoys must always do. 
 
 " Be not afraid that the adoption of such a sys- 
 tem would either tend to degrade the Grand-duke, 
 or to diminish his authority. For, on the contrary, 
 
342 MEiMOIRS OF 
 
 it would prove the greatest benefit whicli any one 
 could confer, either on the State, or on those who 
 are chosen to govern it. 
 
 " Sovereigns can never be so certain of the bene- 
 ficial operation of any measure, as when it has been 
 determined on with the consent of the people, and 
 been subjected to the intelligence and discussion of 
 those interested in its producing every possible ad- 
 vantage ; while ministers are therebv freed from 
 that dangerous responsibility which subjects them 
 to so much odium, even when they are not deserv- 
 ing of blame." 
 
 Gianni lays it down as a principle, " that all go- 
 vernments, whether monarchical or republican, can 
 have only one object in view ; namely, the protec- 
 tion of the people, and the happiness of the greatest 
 number :" he adds, " that all magistrates, each in 
 his own department, are bound to assist in promo- 
 ting it to the best of their knowledge, and by every 
 means in their power. 
 
 *' The maxim inculcated in the schools of the 
 civilians, that passive obedience is due to the Prince 
 by those who occupy situations to which they have 
 been appointed by him, is false and pernicious. A 
 wise man neither will, nor can, ever so far degrade 
 himself as to become an instrument of public evil, 
 and is totally inexcusable, if he allow himself to 
 become such, even though he should incur the loss 
 
scirio ui:: iiicci. .'i-iS 
 
 of fortune, or of royal favour, by a contrary line of 
 conduct. 
 
 " Every one agrees to the truth of this doctrine, 
 but very few practise it when they liapjjen to be 
 placed in the unpleasant predicament of choosing 
 between secret guilt and public disgrace. 
 
 " That man, however, is neither qualitied for serv- 
 ing the public, nor in any respect deserving of its 
 confidence, who is not superior to the seductive in- 
 fluence of applause ; who cannot bear up against the 
 calumnies of envious persecutors, who cannot de- 
 spise the insidious flattery of that crowd of aspirants, 
 whose only object is to gain favour, or to acquire a 
 fortune by base compliances ; who, in fine, does not 
 make the good of the public the only object, and 
 adopt virtue as the sole director of all his schemes, 
 and of all his actions." 
 
 § VII. The compiler of these extracts possesses 
 two original letters of Senator Gianni to his friend 
 Biffi, written with his own hand : in the one written 
 from Genoa, July 4th, 1804, he says :— 
 
 " Frullani imagines that I am employed in wri- 
 ting a treatise on the spirit of Leopold's legislation ; 
 but he is mistaken. Tell him from me, that who- 
 ever is desirous of discovering the real spirit of his 
 laws, will make but little progress in the study, 
 unless he constantly keeps in view the constitution 
 which Leopold was anxious to establish. It was 
 
344 3IEM01RS OF 
 
 completed and approved, but could not be carried 
 into effect, on the accession of Ferdinand, on account 
 of the intrigues which were going on at Vienna in 
 these critical times. If Ferdinand had ascended the 
 throne under the safeguard of that constitution, it is 
 more than probable, that he would not have had to 
 endure the misfortunes to which he has since been 
 exposed. 
 
 " Thus the labour employed in fi'aming that consti- 
 tution became altogether useless. Some day or other, 
 however, it may become public, and serve to enlarge 
 the history of these times, or even to furnish instruction 
 to princes, who are made to believe that a constitu- 
 tion, or fundamental law, deprives them of a part of 
 their authority. Such is not the case : a good con- 
 stitution gives validity to the contract between the 
 prince and his people ; strengthens his authority by 
 the support of the nation, which thus makes him 
 acquainted with its own wants, and the true interests 
 of the throne ; and finally, serves as a barrier against 
 the artifices of ministers and the vices of courtiers — 
 who are the only real enemies of kings, the sole 
 usurpers of authority, the mild and complaisant cor- 
 rupters of sovereigns, and the oppressors of nations ; 
 - — who at one time sacrifice the sovereign, and at 
 another the people, and thus separate and ruin two 
 parties, who cannot exist without mutual union, mu- 
 tual confidence, and mutual support. 
 
 " A king, however, dies ; a people never. Leo- 
 
scirio DE Rice I. 34,5 
 
 pold was aware of all these truths, but unfortunately 
 he was cut off too soon fully to avail himself of them. 
 Mention all this to FruUani. As to the latter, you 
 may make what use of it you please, without any 
 mystery or scruple." 
 
 Returning from this somewhat long digression to 
 the main narrative of Ricci's life, — the Bishop's plans 
 for religious reforms were next put in execution. 
 The Chevalier Banchieri, who was appointed admi- 
 nistrator of the estates belonging to the suppressed 
 monasteries, fully concurred with him in all his 
 measures, and a manufactory was established for the 
 employment of the poor, which soon acquired con- 
 siderable importance. Pistoia has a population of 
 eight thousand souls. Ricci divided it into eight 
 parishes, each governed by a cure or prior, who re- 
 ceiv^ed three hundred crowns a year, and by four 
 chaplains, who were paid a hundred and forty 
 crowns. Having thus united every kind of church 
 property to the ecclesiastical patrimony, which was 
 charged with the payment of the ministers' salaries 
 and the expenses of public worship, he severely for- 
 bade the priests' receiving money from the people on 
 any pretext wliatever. They were obliged to offi- 
 ciate, to marry, baptize, and bury gratis, and the 
 expenses of all religious ceremonies were definitively 
 fixed. The number of tapers put round the dead 
 was the same for both poor and rich ; and when the 
 
 VOL. 1. 2 a 
 
346 MEMOIRS OF 
 
 sum appointed by the defunct person, or his heirs, 
 exceeded the expense, the surplus was devoted to 
 purposes of charity. Many of the clergy voluntarily 
 submitted to these new regulations, and the Bishop 
 had the satisfaction of finding that the diffusion of 
 knowledge had begun to work effects, which he 
 trusted could never be destroyed. 
 
 The Grand-duke augmented the funds of the ec- 
 clesiastical patrimony instituted by Ricci, and be- 
 stowed on it all the wealth of the suppressed monas- 
 teries. These institutions, says the Bishop, afforded, 
 in early times, retreats for men wearied with the 
 barbarities and vices of war. But they have since 
 been made the asylums only of idleness and sensu- 
 ality. Tuscany was always the most religious pro- 
 vince of Italy, but its devotion has not always been 
 the most enlightened. The convents became intol- 
 erable by their numbers, and served as places of 
 confinement, where one half of the people was con- 
 demned to celibacy. Leopold saw the abuses which 
 had been introduced ; and notwithstanding the an- 
 ger of the Papal Court, he determined on effecting 
 a reformation. With the riches of the monks he en- 
 dowed poor })arishes, whose i)riests almost failed of 
 subsistence. He founded new ones where they were 
 wanted. He assisted and established hospitals : found- 
 ed places of education, and, in one m ord, concludes 
 the Bishop, conferred such benefits on Tuscany, that 
 his name deserves to be eternally commemorated. 
 
scipio DE iiicci. 347 
 
 With the powerful assistance of Leopold, Ricci 
 found no obstacle sufficient to retard his completion 
 of the seminary of Pistoia. The edifice employed a 
 considerable number of hands, foinicd a new feature 
 in the appearance of the town, encouraged industry, 
 and even tended to the revival of the Fine Arts, and 
 those of a simple luxury. The petty intrigues which 
 were sometimes employed against him, he immedi- 
 ately made known to Leopold, and they were as im- 
 mediately stopped by the active and zealous deter- 
 mination of that Prince. Ricci has given a long 
 description of his seminary, of the manner in which 
 he formed a school for literary exercises out of the 
 ancient Church, of the economical measures he took 
 to insure the prosperity of the establishment, of the 
 exact discipline he introduced, and of the morality 
 which he inculcated, both practically and theoreti- 
 cally, among the pupils. But the detail of these 
 matters would carry us beyond the prescribed limits 
 of the present work ; and we must content ourselves 
 with having merely alluded to them. 
 
 END OF THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
LONDON : 
 PRINTED BY S. AND It. BtNTLEY, 
 
 D"iSPt Slreit, F\(< I Sltcrt. 
 
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