ch ostensibly
appeared. Whoever was desirous of joining the brotherhood, was bound to
remain in it thirty-four days, and to have fourpence per day at his own
disposal, so that he might not be burthensome to any one; if married, he
was obliged to have the sanction of his wife, and give the assurance that
he was reconciled to all men. The Brothers of the Cross were not
permitted to seek for free quarters, or even to enter a house without
having been invited; they were forbidden to converse with females; and if
they transgressed these rules, or acted without discretion, they were
obliged to confess to the Superior, who sentenced them to several lashes
of the scourge, by way of penance. Ecclesiastics had not, as such, any
pre-eminence among them; according to their original law, which, however,
was often transgressed, they could not become Masters, or take part in
the Secret Councils. Penance was performed twice every day: in the
morning and evening they went abroad in pairs, singing psalms amid the
ringing of the bells; and when they arrived at the place of flagellation,
they stripped the upper part of their bodies and put off their shoes,
keeping on only a linen dress, reaching from the waist to the ankles.
They then lay down in a large circle, in different positions, according
to the nature of the crime: the adulterer with his face to the ground;
the perjurer on one side, holding up three of his fingers, &c., and were
then castigated, some more and some less, by the Master, who ordered them
to rise in the words of a prescribed form. Upon this they scourged
themselves, amid the singing of psalms and loud supplications for the
averting of the plague, with genuflexions and other ceremonies, of which
contemporary writers give various accounts; and at the same time
constantly boasted of their penance, that the blood of their wounds was
mingled with that of the Saviour. One of them, in conclusion, stoop up
to read a letter, which it was pretended an angel had brought from heaven
to St. Peter's Church, at Jerusalem, stating that Christ, who was sore
displeased at the sins of man, had granted, at the intercession of the
Holy Virgin and of the angels, that all who should wander about for
thirty-four days and scourge themselves, should be partakers of the
Divine grace. This scene caused as great a commotion among the believers
as the finding of the holy spear once did at Antioch; and if any among
the clergy inquired who had s