The first of these is a specious inscription over the entrance to a private house, occasion by the following accident. In a late solemn procession upon Corpus Christi day there happened a storm of rain, which was in danger of offering some disrespect to the host; and therefore they thought convenient to give it shelter in the next house, they could step into. Among these zealous people this was construed such a blessing to the man and his family, that the house is ever since looked upon as sacred; and the owner has been at a considerable charge to erect a pair of marble pillars at the entrance into his porch, adorned with carving, and inscribed after this magnificent manner: “That in the year 1692, Innocent XII being Pope, Charles II King of Spain, Buzzia Bishop of Cadiz, and Don Velasco governor of the same Herculean city.” Cum arca vera, panem angelicum carnem factum continens, triumphali processionis pompa, die festo Dominici Corporis deduceretur, et, saeviente turbine, irreverentiae periculum immineret; harum aedium dominus, Didacus de Barias, exivit obviam absconditae majestati, et fidei Centurionis aemulus procidit, indignum se profitens, cujus tectum Dominus subiret, eumque honorifice in oratorio suo suscipere meruit. Quare, Deo favente, sacra catholica majestas cooperari volens domui huic praeeminentiae praerogativam concessit, etc. This accident has rendred Didacus de Barias a meer Saint, and his house a most inviolable sanctuary, in the esteem of the poor Spaniards. Tho our English merchants well know him to be a rank Jew, who being therefore liable to death by the law of Spain, was always forced to live under disguise, and now gladly embraced this opportunity of passing for a zealot. The Jews indeed have formerly been very insolent in Spain. One of the last instances of which was a certain indignity of a shoemaker, who buried a crucifix under the place, where his customers tried on their shoes, that by this stratagem he might oblige Christians to stamp upon the cross. But this nation being since banished that kingdom under the pain of the severest death, they, who still covertly remain so, are obliged to profess themselves of the popish faith, which they can do without any great regret; it being easy to be of two religions, where both consist only in external show and ceremonies.
The other memorable piece of superstition is to be observed in the convent of the Capuchin friery, who within these three years have acquired an extraordinary esteem, by means of a certain lady, who acknowledged herself cured of a dangerous malady by virtue of their intercession. This was an hint, which they thought very improvable; and have therefore since set up for such a stock of merit, that their cloister is already filled with waxen figures of legs, arms, heads, women’s breasts, and other offerings, of so many maimed and distempered persons, whom these Saints have restored by their peculiar interest in heaven. One particularly, who was indebted to them for a more than ordinary blessing, has erected a stately monument on that account, before the entrance into their convent. It is an handsome Ionic pillar, made of white marble, inrailed with a large square of stone, in the front of which is a crucifix, and an image of the Virgin, under the title of the Triumphant Lady. And this new figure is already become such an idol, that the zealous gossips of the town will often approach it upon their knees, at near the distance of a furlong.
Having been detained about a week at Cadiz, we set sail October 11, 1699, and by the favour of a fortunate west wind were advanced within nine days near the entrance of the Faro of Messina; where we lay becalmed two or three days, under the island of Stromboli, as after our departure from Messina we did likewise under mount Aetna. Each of these was an opportunity of entertaining our sight with the dreadful curiosity of those burning mountains; where we observed the crater of both to cast up a continued pillar of smoke, and at repeated distances a terrible red blaze of fire. Afterwards being favoured with a gentle gale, a pilot came from the city to steer us thro the difficult strait of Scylla and Charybdis. Here I was curious to observe the situation of these places, especially because the latter is used in a confused and uncertain sense in classic authors. But upon a diligent view of the place it self, and a companion of some clear expressions in antiquity, the best judgment I could form of it was this, which follows. In Thucydides[145], and other good historians, Charybdis signifies the whole strait betwixt Sicily and Calabria; but in Homer[146], Virgil[147], and other poets, it is restrained to that peculiar whirlpool, which flows under the opposite rock of Scylla. Betwixt these two we found the current so various, that our ship was obliged to stand five or six different ways in a few minutes sailing; and at the same time it was surprizing to hear the waves bubble in a continued hideous noise, well expressed in the poets by the barking of dogs round the bowels of Scylla.
As we lay at anchor at Messina, we were presented with a delightful landskip, which the narrow winding of the Faro, the verdure of the opposite shores, the wall, the citadel, and town itself afforded. The front of the whole city is one continued pile of buildings, extending three quarters of a mile in length, from the Viceroy’s house to that called the French bastion. It intirely consists of free stone, being raised four story high, adorned with carved windows, balconies, battlements, and other ornaments, all answering to each other with an exact regularity. No house has any doors to the sea, but the entrance is at large gates, which front so many streets of the city, placed at equal distances, and each of them inscribed with some religious device. This range is contrived, as for ornament, so likewise for defence; it being at the bottom of a prodigious thickness, so as to withstand a siege, and decreasing proportionably towards the top. The whole running in a bend, which is every where equidistant from the sea, represents a curvilineal amphitheatre. The inner part of the city does not answer to this magnificence of the front; tho there often occur many single pieces of great art and curiosity. Such as the King’s statue on horseback, exactly resembling that of our late King Charles at Windsor. The Statue of Don John of Austria, in memory of the victory obtained by him at Lepanto in 1571. The beautiful structure of a public fountain, adorned at the bottom with four large and masterly figures, representing Nilus, Iberus, Tiber, and Euripus. But more curious than the rest is a figure of Neptune on the mole, cast in solid brass, and attended on each side with two very natural representations of the monsters Scylla and Charybdis.
But it was not so entertaining to observe these, as deplorable to see, what St. Paul bewailed at Athens, a city wholly given to idolatry and superstition. It affords a melancholy consideration to any serious spectator, to be witness to so many vain and hypocritical addresses made to the images and altars, which abound in this deluded place. For this brings the like scandal upon Christianity, as was so offensive under the ranked heathenism, and too truly exposes the subjects of it to that derision of Lucretius:
Nec pietas ulla est velatum saepe videri
Vertier ad lapidem, et quascunque accedere ad aras[148].
They are here furnished with nunneries and monasteries to the number of sixty odd, most of which are loftily built, and add the greatest grace to the structure of the city. In the college of St. Nicholas I observed the pictures of our five Jesuits, who were executed for the popish plot, with a specious account when, and how, they were crowned with martyrdom for the profession of the faith in England. In the nunnery of Sta. Maria della Scala they shew a stone sculpture of the Virgin and our Savior, which they verily beleive to have been taken from the life. In the cathedral church there are twelve noble figures of the Apostles, exquisitely carved in clear and costly marble. The isle, which composes the body of the church, is ranged on each side with thirteen stately pillars, twelve of which are antient of the Corinthian order, brought formerly from a temple of Neptune, that stood near the promontory Pelórus. There are here three gaudy altars, that want nothing, which art or expence could contribute to adorn them; for below they are set with work of lapis lazuli, and above are covered with cupolas of true mosaic. But over the high altar, at the east end of the cathedral, is preserved in golden characters, and embellished with a rich variety of other ornaments, one of the greatest delusions in all popery. It is a letter, which according to the tradition of this church was sent to the Messanians by the B. Virgin, upon their conversion by St. Paul, soon after he touched at Rhegium. It is reasonably concise, and therefore I shall venture to trouble you with the words, as faithfully transcribed.
Maria Virgo, Joachim filia, Dei humillima, Christi Iesu crucifixi mater, ex tribu Juda, stirpe David, Messanensibus omnibus salutem, et Dei Patris Omnipotentis benedictionem.
VOS omnes fide magna legatos ac nuncios per publicum documentum ad nos misisse constat. Filium nostrum, Dei genitum, Deum et hominem esse fatemini, et in caelum post suam resurrectionem ascendisse, Pauli Apostoli electi praedicatione mediante, viam veritatis agnoscentes. Ob quod vos et ipsam civitatem benedicimus, cujus perpetuam protectricem nos esse volumus. Anno Filii nostri XLII. Ind. 1. 3 nonas Junii. Luna XXVII. V. Ex Hierosolymis.