dient falling short of full fatisfaction, Boniface VIII. ordered, that the superiors of religious houses should make application to the bishops, for their permission to such friars, as should be commissioned by their respective abbots, to administer the sacrament of penance, and upon the foot of this constitution the matter now rests. A great many have embraced this severe order, out of an opinion of a particular holiness and merit, which they believed did belong to it, or rather an ecclesiastical ambition; the pride of mankind being so great and natural to some, that they did not think the commands of God sufficient, but would receive heaven rather as a reward than a gift, and were ambitious of having a preference before others, even in another life. Buchanan tells us, the mendicants in Scotland, under the appearance of beggary, lived a very luxurious life; whence one wittily called them, not mendicants, but manducant friars. government of his congregation, of which St. Philip himself was the first general. This new institution soon made a great progress, and divers other establishments were made on the same model; particularly at Naples, Milan, Fermo, and Palermo. The holy founder having resigned the office of general, he was succeeded therein by Baronius, who was afterwards promoted to the dignity of a cardinal. St. Philip died the twentyfifth of May, 1595, and was canonized in 1662 by pope Gregory XV. After his death, this congregation made a farther progress in Italy, and has produced several cardinals, and eminent writers, as Baronius, Olderic, Rainaldi, and others. The Priests of the Oratory, in France, were established upon the model of those in Italy, and owe their rise to cardinal Berulle, a native of Champagne; who resolved upon this foundation, in order to revive the splendor of the ecclesiastical state, which was greatly sunk through the miseries of the civil wars, the increase of heresies, and a general corruption of manners. To this end he assembled a community of ecclesiastics, in 1611, in the suberb of St. James, where is at present the famous monastery of Val-de-Grace. They obtained the king's letters patent for their establishment; and in 1613, pope Paul V. approved of this congregation, under the title of the Oratory of Jesus. The Priests of the Oratory, had a convent erected for them at Florence, by Philip de Neri, 1548; and at first they consisted of no more than fifteen persons, who assembled in the church of St. Saviour in Campo, every first Sunday in the month, to praetise the exercises of piety prescribed by the holy founder. Afterwards their number increasing by the addition of several persons of distinction to the society, St. Philip proceeded to establish an hospital for the reception of poor pilgrims, who, coming to Rome to visit the tombs of St. Peter and St. Paul, were obliged, for want of a lodging, to lie in the streets, or at the doors of the churches. For this charitable purpose, pope Paul IV. gave to the society the parochial church of St. Benedict, close by which was built an hospital, so large, that in the jubilee year 1600, it received four hundred and forty-ing, nor theology, but only the virtues of the ecclefour thousand five hundred men, and twenty-five thousand five hundren women, who came in pilgrimage to Rome. St. Philip Neri, besides this charitable foundation for pilgrims, held spiritual conferences at Rome, in a large chamber, accommodated in the form of an oratory, in which he was assisted by the famous Baronius, author of the ecclesiastical annals. Here were delivered lectures on religion and morality, and the auditors were instructed in ecclesiastical history. The assembly always ended with prayers, and hymns to the glory of God; after which, the holy founder and his companions, visited the hospitals and churches, and took care of the sick. In 1574, the Florentines, at Rome, with the permission of pope Gregory XIII. built a very spacious oratory, in which St. Philip continued his religious assemblies, and the pope likewise gave him the parochial church of Vallicella, and the same year, approved the constitutions he had drawn up for the This congregation consisted of two sorts of persons, the one as it were incorporated, the other only associates. The former governed the houses of this institution, the latter were only employed in forming themselves to the life and manners of ecclesiastics; and this was the true spirit of this congre gation, in which they taught neither human learn siastical life. After the death of cardinal Berulle, which happened the second of October 1629, the priests of the oratory made a great progress in France, and other countries; and at present they have eleven houses in the Low Countries, one at Liege, two in the county of Avignon, and one in Savoy, besides fifty-eight in France. The first house, which is as it were the mother of all the rest, is that of the street St. Honore at Paris, where the general resides. The priests of this congregation are not, properly speaking, religious, being obliged to no vows, their institute being purely ecclesiastical or sacerdotal. The congregation of mount Olivet, is an order of religious Benedictines in Italy, who acknowledged for their founder St. Bernard Tolemei, a gentleman of Sienna. This Bernard taught philosophy; and one day, as he was preparing to explain a very different question, he was on a sudden struck blind; but having recovered his sight, by the inter-. cession of the virgin, he made a vow to dedicate himself to her service, and renounce the world. In consequence of this vow, he retired to a solitary 'place named Acona, about fifteen miles from Sienna, in the year 1313. The sanctity of his life drew thither a great number of persons, who renounced the world to accompany him in his solitude, and Gui de Pietramala, bishop of Arezzo, by order of pope John XXII. gave these solitaries the rule of St. Benedict, and Ancona the name of mount Olivet, either because of the olive trees which grew in that 'place, or to put the religious in mind of our Saviour's passion on the Mount of Olives. The historians of this order speak of the extreme rigours observed by them, at their first establishment: their fasts, macerations, and spiritual exercises and that they might have no opportunity to drink wine, they cut down all the vines that grew about the mountain. Their extreme abstinence was prejudicial to their health, insomuch that most of them fell sick; and upon this they relaxed a little from their sobriety, and followed St. Paul's advice, -drinking a little wine for their stomach's sake; and at length, they inserted in their constitutions, that the best wines should be bought for the use of the monks. But this congregation was not confined to Ancona, for it obtained several other settlements. The first was at Sienna; the second at Arezzo; the third at Florence; the fourth at Camprena, in the territory of Sienna; the fifth at Volterra; the sixth at St. Geminiano; the seventh at Eugubio; and the eighth at Foligni. Afterwards it was established at Rome, and other places; and pope John XXII. approved this order in 1324, and it was afterwards confirmed by Clement VI. and several other pontiffs. SO The congregation of mount Olivet has in Italy and Sicily, about fourscore monasteries, in most of which are a great number of religious. These monasteries are divided into six provinces; but the principal convent is that of Mount Olivet. It is large and spacious, that the emperor Charles V. lodged in it with a retinue of two hundred persons. The religious of Mount Olivet are habited in fine white serge, and they profess the rule of St. Benedict: but it is very much mitigated by their constitutions. Every Sunday they hold a conference upon some case of conscience, or difficulty in the scripture, and in some monasteries, they have lectures of humanity, philosophy, and theology. It is remarkable, that they admit no persons of noble birth into their order, contrary to the rule of St. Benedict, which makes no distinction of persons. The order is governed by a general, a vicar-general, and six visitors; and they hold a general chapter once every year, in which they chuse superiors of houses and other officers. In the year 1530, an order was founded in Calabria, by one Bernard Rogliano, and was called the Colorites. It took its name from a little mountain called Colorito, in the kingdom of Naples; on which mountain there is a church dedicated to the virgin Mary, founded many centuries ago. This Bernard was a holy priest, who being desirous to retire from all manner of conversation with the busy scenes of a tumultuous world, and live in solitude, took the habit of a hermit, and built a cell near this church, where he lived in the practice of the greatest austerities. His name soon became so famous, that many came to receive spiritual instruction from him; some of whom touched with the piety of his discourses, renounced the world, and put themselves under his direction. Their number continued to increase so fast every day, that the duchess of Bissignano, a pious lady, gave them the mountain where the church stood, with all the lands belonging to it: and her donation was confirmed by a bull of pope Pius IV. 1562. They agreed to live according to the rule of the Augustine mouks, and they first took their solemn vows in 1591. In 1600, they were put under some new regulations, and at present they have about twelve convents. Their habit consists of a tawny coloured gown, reaching to their knees, and tied round the waist with a leather girdle. In the state of Venice, where much freedom is allowed to the religious, there is an order, called Dimasses; consisting of young maids and widows. They were founded by Deijanara Valmarana, the widow of a Venetian nobleman of high rank. This lady having taken the babit of the third order of St. Francis, retired with four poor women, to a house belonging to herself. In the most retired manner they lived together in the practice of every Christian duty, under the di rection of a Franciscan friar, who prescribed rules for them in 1584, and this gave birth to other houses of the same nature. None are admitted into this order, till after three years' probation; and there are not above nine or ten of them in one house, who every year elect a superior; and she is obliged to be thirty years of age. No men are to be admitted into their houses, and their chief employment, besides acts of devotion, is to teach young women in the principles of religion, to relieve the poor, and visit the sick. As they are not under any obligation to celibacy, so they may leave the convent whenever they please, and enter into the marriage state. They have many houses in the state of Venice, and their habit is either black or brown, according to their choice. In Spain there is a very remarkable order of religious, called Whippers, or Disciplinarians, who make a grand procession on Good Friday, and on such occasions, and not only all the great officers of state are present, but even the king, queen, and the royal family. The preparation to it has the most mournful appearance; for the king's guards march with their muskets covered with crape, and all the drums are muffled. In short, the whole procession shows the genius of the nation, as naturally turned to an excess of devotion, and pleased with every thing that has the appearance of exterior piety.— These pretended penitents do not undertake these exercises from motives of devotion, but only to please their mistresses who are slaves to superstition. They whip themselves with small cords, to the ends of which are fixed little balls of wax, stuck through with pieces of glass, and so artful are they, that they can at any time make the blood spring out, which is very pleasing to the ladies. These whippers wear a long cap, covered with cambric, three feet high, in the form of a sugar-loaf, from which falls a piece of linen that covers their faces. They wear white gloves, and their sleeves are tied with ribbons. Crosiers, or Cross-bearers, are another order in the church of Rome, and were founded in memory and honour of the finding the real cross upon which our Saviour suffered, by Helena, mother of the emperor Constantine the Great. These cross-bearers were instituted many years ago, but now they are greatly fallen into contempt, little regard being paid to them by the other religious orders. The popes, however, have given some countenance to them, and under their protection they till of late continued to exist. They wore a cross of red cloth upon their breasts. Before the Reformation they had several houses in England, particularly one in London, on the spot now called Crutched-friars, whereas the proper name of it is Crossed-friars. In the year 1133, these cross-bearers were established in Flanders by the dukes of Burgundy, who at that time were much engaged in carrying on the crusades.— Theodore de Celles, a relation of the duke of Burgundy, having been some years in Syria, happened to converse with several religious of this order; and being struck with the piety of their lives and simplicity of their manners, he resolved to bring the order into his own country. Accordingly upon his return home, he laid aside his military habit, and became a canon in the cathedral church of Liege ; but resolving to carry his design farther into execution, he obtained of the bishop of Liege, the church of St. Thibaut, near the town of Huy, where with his companions, he laid the foundation of the order of the Holy Cross, which soon afterwards spread itself over many nations. The superior of this order receives episcopal ordination, and wears a mitre, with a golden cross, in the same manner as a bishop. There is an order in the Romish church of great antiquity, and much esteemed, called Cluniac Monks, and is the very first branch of the Benedictines.-It was first founded in the year 910, by St. Bernon, of the royal family of Burgundy, who built a monastery for them in the town of Clugni, in France, near the banks of the river Grone. These monks were remarkable for their sanctity, because they sung two solemn masses every day. They spent most of their time in visiting the sick, and distributed the whole of their revenues, besides what was necessary for their own support, to relieve the wants of the poor. In preparing the bread for the eucharist, they used the following ceremonies. They chose the wheat grain by grain, and then washed it very carefully; after this a sacrist carried it to the mill to be ground, and washed the mill-stones all over, spreading a curtain around the place, that no air might come near it. They washed the meal in pure water and made it up in small loaves moulded in boxes of iron. At last this order grew into such high repute, that they had convents in every part of the known world. They were first brought into England in the year 1077, and many convents were built for them, all which were demolished at the Reformation, and their revenues seized for the crown. At present they have many houses in France, Italy, and other Roman catholic countries; and once in every three years, they hold general chapters for every convent: but they are not so rich as they were formerly, many persons otherwise well attached to the doctrines of the church of Rome, having withdrawn their bounty from them, and given it to some others for whom they had higher esteem. The Nuns of the conception of our Lady, a religious order of the church of Rome, were founded by Beatrix, a pious lady in the kingdom of Portugal, about the year 1462; this lady having been carried to the court of Castile, by Elizabeth, daughter of Edward, king of Portugal, whom the king of Castile had married. She was extremely beautiful, and the king falling in love with her, it se enraged the jealous queen, that she ordered her to be locked up in a chamber, where she was kept without victuals or drink three days. In this afflicted condition she implored the assistance of the blessed Virgin, who appeared to her and comforted her, promising her a speedy deliverance, which soon after took place. But Beatrix, fearing that the queen would again wreak her vengeance upon her, withdrew privately and fled to Toledo, where she took shelter in a convent of Dominican nuns, and lived there forty years in the practice of every religious duty. It was at this convent that the blessed Virgin appeared again to her, and inspired her with the design of founding an order of nuns in honour of her own |