500 On Priests in general, and- [Nov.' 



to give it sufficient charms to entrap the enthiisiaem of the beholders- 

 The old Pagan rites were recalled ; incense floated in grateful clouds 

 through the atmosphere ; choral harmonies swelled upon the ear ; and 

 even moveable paintings, and checquered lights, assisted the priests in 

 the pageantry of their office. It is difficult to conceive a sight in which 

 there is more complete stage illusion, mixed up Avith awe and magnifi- 

 cence, than the interior of an Italian cathedral, even at the present day. 

 The garb of the priests was, and is, costly and superb; while their 

 motions were solemn, and their attitudes fit for the canvas. Troops of 

 bo)^s to personify angels, and numerous assistants in various disguises, 

 filled up the pauses of prayer and exhortation. Then the elevation of 

 the Host, which the deluded spectators are taught to believe is the actual 

 body and spirit of our Lord, awakened the sympathies and adoration of 

 the audience. At this moment all knees were bent and all heads 

 bowed ; the hum of distant voices arose ; the frankincense was more 

 liberally scattered upon the multitude ; and while the eyes of the people, 

 which are never directed to the object of their worship, the sacred thing 

 that must not be gazed vipon, vv-ere sunk in sacred lowliness and humility, 

 the priest poured his blessing upon their heads, and amidst the din of 

 bells and the adoring buzz of the crowd, the majesty of the God of 

 Creation was suddenly withdrawn. On some occasions the transitions 

 and progress of the divine passion were represented ; and in many 

 chapels there still are stations at which gaudily-sculptured or painted 

 appearances are placed, before which the devotees prostrate themselves, 

 and passing from one to another, until their melancholy round is com- 

 pleted, enact the entire tragedy of tears, groans, and ejaculations ! At 

 the processions on saints' days, &c., the virgin mother, or the sainted 

 idol of the hour, is represented by some beautiful girl with a glory 

 roimd her head, or, as it may be, by a youth luxuriantly crowned and 

 borne through the streets, that the inhabitants may pay their devotions 

 to the living representation of the Holy Person whose memory is thus 

 celebrated. In the early ages of the Romish church it was common to 

 perform dramas on the stage taken from scripture. Even the Saviour 

 was not exempt from this ribald profanation, and his language and 

 actions were mimicked by those blasphemous mummeries ! Some of 

 those pieces are still extant ; they are identified in all historical treatises 

 upon dramatic poetiy, as amongst the first scenic representations under 

 the title of Mysteries ; they were, indeed, indecent mysteries, even 

 worse in their nature than the mysterious indecencies of the Pagan day. 

 The influence of the priests was obtained not only by such fictitious, 

 yet well organized aids as these, but by an agency still more powerful 

 and practical. The sovereigns of petty states, in order to secure their 

 own possessions, freel)' acknowledged the assumptions of the papacy. 

 It was in vain to resist the tide of superstition. They had no choice 

 between being deposed by the people or the pope, or purchasing- 

 security by submission. In order to become tyrants over their subjects, 

 they became the enslaved instruments of the clergy. They held a dele- 

 gated despotism. They were empowered to violate, in the name of 

 God, all the laAvs of Christianity, provided they preserved incorruptibly 

 the stewardship of Peter's pence. The tribute money to the foreign 

 authority was but an usurious interest upon the loan of their own 

 dominions. Fraud, extortion, and anathema, were admirable reasoners ; 

 the fagot, the torture, and the chambers of the inquisition, were 

 imanswerable converters ! 



