I. Poppysmatum. — That word being but

little used, it may be useful to record here the definition given of it by the Glossarium eroticum linguce latinos (auctore P. P., Paris, 1826) :
PoppYSMA. — Oris prcssi sonus, similis illi quo pcrmulcenlur equi et canes. Obscene vero de susurro cunni labiorum, quum frictu mades- cunt.
Father Sinistrari, well versed in classical
Demonialitjr 23j
slight partition), then a peculiar friction, the cracking of a bed, groans and sighs, quasi duorum concumbentium; her curiosity was raised to the highest pitch, and she re- doubled her attention in order to ascertain who was in the cell. But having, three ti- mes running, seen no other nun come out but her rival, she suspected that a man had been secretly introduced and was kept hidden there. She went and reported the thing to the Abbess, who, after hold- ing counsel with discreet persons, resolved upon hearing the sounds and observing
literature, had turned to account the following epigram of Martial (book VII, i8) :
IN GALLAM
Quum tibi sit facies, de qua nec fcemina possit Dicere, quum corpus nulla litura notet;
Cur te tarn rarus cupiat, repetatque fututor,
Miraris ? Vitium est non leve, Galla, tibi. Accessi quoties ad opus, mixtisque movemur Inguinibus, cunnus non tacet, ipsa faces.
Di facerent, ut tu loquereris, et ipse taceret !
Offendor cunni garrulitate tui.
Pedere te mallem : namque hoc nec inutile dicit Symmachus, et risum res movet ista simul.
Quis ridere potest fatui poppysmata cunni?
Quum sonat hie, cui non mentula mensque cadit Die aliquid saltern, clamosoque obstrepe cunno :
Et si adeo muta es, disce vel inde loqui.
{Editorial Note.)
238
Daemonialitas
secinn in ilia cella clausa esse, et reperto quod non, Abbatissa cum discretis fuit ad ostium cellce clausa;; et pulsato frustra pluries ostio , cum Monialis nec respon- dere, nec aperire vellet , Abbatissa tninata est, se velle ostium prosterni facere, et vecte aggredi opus fecit a quadam con- versa. , Tunc aperuit ostium Monialis, et facta perquisitione, nullus inventus est in camera. Interrogata Monialis cum quo- nam loquerctur, et de causa concussionis lecti, anhelituum, etc., omnia negavit.
Cum vero res perseveraret , accuratior. ac curiosior reddita Monialis cemula per- foravit tabulas lacunaris, ut posset cellam introspicere ; et vidit elegantem quemdam juvenem cum Moniali concumbentcm, quern etiam eodem modo ab aliis Monialibus vi- dendum curavit. Delata mox accusatione ad Episcopum , ipsaque Moniali omnia negante, tandem metu tormentorum com-
Demoniality 23 g
the indications that had been denounced her, so as to avoid any precipitate or inconsi- derate act. In consequence, the Abbess and her confidents repaired to the cell of the spy, and heard the voices and other noises that had been described. An inquiry was set on foot to make sure whether any of the Nuns could be shut in with the other one ; and the result being in the negative, the Abbess and her attendants went to the door of the closed cell, and knocked re- peatedly, but to no purpose : the Nun neither answered, nor opened. The Abbess threatened to have the door broken in, and even ordered a convert to force it with a crow-bar. The Nun then opened her door : a search was made and no one found. Being asked with whom she had been talking, and the why and wherefore of the bed cracking, of the sighs, etc., she denied every thing.
But, matters going on just the same as before, the rival Nun, become more atten- tive and more inquisitive than ever, con- trived to bore a hole through the parti- tion, so as to be able to see what was going on inside the cell ; and what should she see but an elegant youth lying with the Nun, and the sight of whom she took care to let the others enjoy by the same
240
Dxmonialitas
minatorum adacta, confessa est sc cum Incubo consuetudinem habuisse.
5. Quando igitur adessent talia indicia, sicut in recitata historia intervenerunt , posset utique in rigoroso examine rea constitui; sine tamen ejiis confessione, non censendum est delictum plene probatum, quantumvis a testibus visits fuisset con- gressus ; siquidem aliquando accidit, quod Diabolus, ut infamiam alicui innocenti pararet, prcestigiose talem concubitum re- prxsentaverit. Unde in his casibus debet Judex Ecclesiasticus esse perfecte ocu- latus.
Demoniality 241
means. The charge was soon brought before the bishop : the guilty Nun en- deavoured still to deny all; but, threat- ened with the torture, she confessed having had an intimacy with an Incubus.
5. When, therefore, indications are forth- coming, such as those recited above, a charge might be brought after a searching inquiry; yet, without the confession of the accused, the offence should not be regarded as fully proved, even if the intercourse were testified by eye-witnesses; for it some- times happens that, in order to undo an innocent female, the Devil feigns such in- tercourse by means of some delusion. In those cases, the Ecclesiastical Judge must consequently trust but his own eyes.

II
243
Doemonialitas
PCEN^E
Quantum ad poenas Dtemonialitatis, nulla lex civilis, aut canonica, quam legerim, reperitur, quce pcenam sanciat contra cri- men hujusmodi. Tamen, quia crimen hoc supponit pactum, ac socictatem cum Dce- mone, ac apostasiam a fide, ultra veneficia, atque alia infinita propemodum datnna , quce a Maleficis inferuntur, regulariter, ex- tra Italiam, suspendio ct incendio punitur. In Italia autem, rarissime traduntur hu- jusmodi Malefici ab Inquisitoribus Curice sa’culari.
s
Demoniality
PENALTIES
As regards the penalties applicable to Demoniality , there is no law that I know of, either civil or canonical, wich inflicts a punishment for a crime of that kind. Since, however, such a crime implies a com- pact and fellowship with the Demon, and apostasy of the faith, not to speak of the raalefices and other almost numberless outrages perpetrated by Sorcerers , *as a rule it is punished, out of Italy, by the gal- lows and the stake. But, in Italy, it is but very seldom that offenders of that kind are delivered up by the Inquisitors to the secular power.
Father Ludovico Maria Sinistrari, of the Order of Reformed Minors of the strict Observance of St. Francis, was born in Ameno, a small town of the district of St. Julius, in the diocese of Novara, on the 26tb of February 1622. He received a li- beral education and went through a course of humanities in Pavia, where, in the year 1647, he entered the Order of Fran- ciscans. Devoting himself henceforward to tuition, he was first a professor of Philoso- phy ; he then, during fifteen successive years, taught Theology in the same town, amidst a numerous concourse of students attracted from all parts of Europe by his high repute. His sermons preached in the principal cities of Italy, at the same time as they caused his eloquence to be admir-