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NoTcLXVI.] OCTOBER, 1819. (Vol. XIV.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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- -- ¦ - ¦ State of Religion in Spain , 1819 .
fTIHERE are in Spain , according JL to Antillon ' s * calculations , two hundred thousand ecclesiastics . They possess immense revenues and an incalculable- influence over the mass of the people ; though it is certain that influence is diminishing , notwithstanding the countenance and cooperation of a government deeply interested in preserving their
authority . It would be great injustice to the regular clergy of Spain to class them with the immense hordes of monks and friars , scattered over the face of the Peninsula , some possessing rich
and well-stored convents , large estates and accumulating wealth , and others ( the mendicant orders ) who prey more directly on the labours of the poor , and compel the industrious to administer to their holy ,
uninterrupted laziness . The former , though , doubtless , by far too numerous , are for the most part intelligent and humane ; dispensing benevolence and
consolation in their respective parishes ; friendly , in many instances , to liberty and devoted to literature * The latter , with few , but striking exceptions , f are unmanageable masses of ignorance and inHolence . J They
* Antillon—I cannot mention this illustrious name without a tribute of admiration nn ( i gratitude . A life devoted to virtue and literature , an unwearied strugg le in the cause of civil and religious liberty , rewarded l > y the fatal blow of a hired assassin , leaves behind it an impress on the hearts of the generous and the good which will not and cannot be erased .
t Tt cannot be denied that tiie seclusion of the convent is so friendly-to contemplation and research , that literature has been , arid still is , greatly indebted to it . A glance at the columns of Nich . Antonio ' s biograp hical Dictionary will give striking Proof of this . * b
j There are many convents in which no »> ook , could be . found " but the sendee of mass or the rules of the order . In others , there are excellent libraries , of whose value <*> e iriars have no idea whatever . In the
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live ( as one of the Spanish poets says ) in a state of sensual enjoyment between the organ-loft and the refectory , to which all other enjoyment is but purgatory ;* the link which should
convent ? of San'Miguel de los Reyes , near Valencia , I examined some of the most interesting * MSS . in existence , which are in charge of a brotherhood of unlearned Geronomites . The librarian refused to shew me a celebrated MS . of the Roman de la Rose , " because" ( be said ) " it was
the work of a heretic j" though he added , he had written some verses in it to frighten any inquirer who might accidentally open it . He had been recommending" the burning a noble illuminated MS . of the " Divina Commejdia , " apparently
contemporary with Dante , as " the wretch had dared to send even Popes to hell . " Ancient copies of VirgiJ , Livy and others , are in some danger , should on r zealous friar stumble on their history , and learn that they never went to mass . * Montalrari .
Es Purgatorio— - To da dicha , cornparada Con la de un frayle , cifrada Desde el coro al refectoiio . The whole description is admirable , and I am tempted to introduce it here .
Friend , thou art right ! A world like this Hath nothing equal to the bliss Enjoyed by yonder lazy friar , Between refectory and choir ! The morning * pass ed in sacred song * , ( The task is short—the triumph long !) Why should our portly friar repine ? Enough for him—good mail ! to see
His cellar stor'd with rosy wine , His table piTd with luxury . Come now , come with me , and partake Our friar ' s poor and ? nodest board : Meek sufferor—for Jesus sake !
Self-sacrinVd—to please the Lord !! And is this rich smd gay domain His place of penury and pain ? That table his , where rangM in state I see so many jovial brothers , Each with his fingers in his plate ,
And bis eyes iix'd upon another ' s ? O 'tis indeed a lovely sight To see thus earth and heav ' n unite ; And what an enviable union Of church and kitchen in communion !
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THE
Notclxvi.] October, 1819. (Vol. Xiv.
NoTcLXVI . ] OCTOBER , 1819 . ( Vol . XIV .
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vol . xiv . 4 ,
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1819, page unpag, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1777/page/1/
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