Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Humourous Account Of A Religious Ceremony, Performed At Rome.
manded Abel to descend . Enthusiasm had deafened him ' to every ' worldly consideration . ; and , what added to my chagrin was , that the pilgrims had greatly the advantage of him , ten out of eleven bein « sans culottes- ^ -so finding all remonstrance ineffectual , I waited to see the conclusion of the ceremony . The holy receptacle at the top contains a splendid . crucifix , surrounded about dozen
by a portable saints , which are shewn . off by a strong li ght in the back ground ; and it has much the appearance of a magic lantern . As the pilgrims advance they batter their fore , heads against the upper step , ' more or less according to their superstition , or the wei ght of sin that overwhelms them ; and then , as the same method of descent , being as I have informed you upon their ineesmi
, ghtpossibly . be more rapid , they go off at the top through two narrow passages or defiles that look like a couple of cracks in the wall ; which , I suppose , are intended to answer the purposes of a weighing machine , to ascertain how much they are wasted by fastiW and praying . ' & . -It-was , evident . that-they had not used the same artificial means ' of themselves that
reducing a Newmarket jockey does , by wearing a dozen flannel waistcoats at a time , for most of them were bareV covered with the remnant of a shirt— . what fasting might have done I . know not , but arn apt to give very iittle credit , to the effect of their prayers . —^ Indeed there was a more natural way of accounting for their leannessas most of them had walked some hundreds of miles
, previous to the ceremony ; and we may discover a cause for thestrange attitude which they used on the occasion , by conjecturing , ' that being leg-weary , they had recourse to their knees by way of a change . " " ' .
These narrow passages did well enough for a mortified taper catholic ( one or two of whom I have seen , towards the conclusion of Lent , reduced to such a- point that one mi ght almost have threaded a bodkin with them ) but in nowise answered the purpose of your portly well-fed . protestant ; so Abel , as was easyto foresee , stuck ' fast in the middle—several of them endeavoured to pull him through , till at last he letel
was so comp y wedged in that he could neither get backwards nor forwards . r „ — Finding him in this situation , the pilgrims were suddenly disarmed of sufficient strength to withstand the ' temptations of their old pilfering system ; so one ran away with his hat , another clawed hold of his hair , and had very nearly scalped himsupposing it to be a wi . In short-after a violent " exertion
, g , , Abel effected his escape , and promised to make no more reli gious experiments for the present ; but is persuaded that he should neverhave got through , had it not been for the interference of the crucifix and portable saints , ' " ¦ ' - ' " -
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Humourous Account Of A Religious Ceremony, Performed At Rome.
manded Abel to descend . Enthusiasm had deafened him ' to every ' worldly consideration . ; and , what added to my chagrin was , that the pilgrims had greatly the advantage of him , ten out of eleven bein « sans culottes- ^ -so finding all remonstrance ineffectual , I waited to see the conclusion of the ceremony . The holy receptacle at the top contains a splendid . crucifix , surrounded about dozen
by a portable saints , which are shewn . off by a strong li ght in the back ground ; and it has much the appearance of a magic lantern . As the pilgrims advance they batter their fore , heads against the upper step , ' more or less according to their superstition , or the wei ght of sin that overwhelms them ; and then , as the same method of descent , being as I have informed you upon their ineesmi
, ghtpossibly . be more rapid , they go off at the top through two narrow passages or defiles that look like a couple of cracks in the wall ; which , I suppose , are intended to answer the purposes of a weighing machine , to ascertain how much they are wasted by fastiW and praying . ' & . -It-was , evident . that-they had not used the same artificial means ' of themselves that
reducing a Newmarket jockey does , by wearing a dozen flannel waistcoats at a time , for most of them were bareV covered with the remnant of a shirt— . what fasting might have done I . know not , but arn apt to give very iittle credit , to the effect of their prayers . —^ Indeed there was a more natural way of accounting for their leannessas most of them had walked some hundreds of miles
, previous to the ceremony ; and we may discover a cause for thestrange attitude which they used on the occasion , by conjecturing , ' that being leg-weary , they had recourse to their knees by way of a change . " " ' .
These narrow passages did well enough for a mortified taper catholic ( one or two of whom I have seen , towards the conclusion of Lent , reduced to such a- point that one mi ght almost have threaded a bodkin with them ) but in nowise answered the purpose of your portly well-fed . protestant ; so Abel , as was easyto foresee , stuck ' fast in the middle—several of them endeavoured to pull him through , till at last he letel
was so comp y wedged in that he could neither get backwards nor forwards . r „ — Finding him in this situation , the pilgrims were suddenly disarmed of sufficient strength to withstand the ' temptations of their old pilfering system ; so one ran away with his hat , another clawed hold of his hair , and had very nearly scalped himsupposing it to be a wi . In short-after a violent " exertion
, g , , Abel effected his escape , and promised to make no more reli gious experiments for the present ; but is persuaded that he should neverhave got through , had it not been for the interference of the crucifix and portable saints , ' " ¦ ' - ' " -