NOTE H.
“The effectual aid given by that Crucifix in the Plague of 1649, was upon record.” [p. 174].
Zuñiga, in his Annals, copies a Spanish inscription, which still exists in the convent of Saint Augustin, at Seville; of which I subjoin a translation:—
“In 1649, this town being under a most violent attack of the plague, of which great numbers died,[67] the two most illustrious Chapters, Ecclesiastical and Secular, requested that this community of our father St. Augustin, should allow the image of Christ to be carried to the Cathedral. It was, accordingly, conveyed, on the second of July of the same year, in a solemn procession, attended by the Secular Chapter (the Town Corporation), and all the religious communities, amidst the loud wailings of the people; when the most illustrious Chapter of the Cathedral walked to meet the procession at the end of the street of the Placentines.[68] The most holy image was left that evening and the ensuing night in the Cathedral, and returned the next day to its shrine, our Lord being pleased to ordain that the plague should begin to abate from the day when the image was brought out, and cease altogether at the end of the Octavario, (eight days worship), as it was attested by the physicians. Wherefore the most noble and most loyal city of Seville appointed the said second of July, for ever, to repair to this convent as an act of thanksgiving for that great benefit.”
In spite of this solemn acknowledgment of the miracle, the astrologers of that day were unwilling to give the crucifix the whole credit of staying the plague. Zuñiga shrewdly observes that the conjunction of Jupiter with Mars, which, according to Captain Francis de Ruesta, removed the infection, did not take place till the 12th of July, ten days after the wonderful effects of the procession had become visible; and the Captain himself, probably to keep clear of the Inquisition, declares that the favourable influence of the planets “was previously ensured by the exhibition of the Holy Christ of Saint Augustin.” Zuñiga, Anales de Sevilla, t. iv. p. 404.