Holy -Days and Holidays 



are hushed ; not a bell rings in church or 

 house ; the bells are removed from the very 

 oxen in the street. In a city of bells, religious 

 and secular, among a people which loves and 

 makes noise for its own sake, this has a very 

 solemn and insistent effect. All self-respecting 

 persons are clothed in black, and to the churches 

 unending services and many symbolical repre- 

 sentations of the events of the Passion attract 

 throngs of sombre worshippers. Flags are at 

 half-mast, and the general aspect is the very 

 fitting one of a city mourning for her mighty 

 dead. 



Yet even during those solemn hours, when 

 on shore all human noise is stilled, when even 

 the roulette at the Casino ceases from spinning, 

 and the decorously impious hide themselves in 

 their houses and play bridge, the traffic of 

 steamers to and from the port knows no 

 cessation. The sanctity of the mail-service 

 surpasses the sanctity of the Church ; and even 

 the grimy tramp disdains to hush her hideous 

 hooter. Why is the sea thus relieved from the 

 conventions of the land ? Why, when the city 

 is actually or officially on its knees in prayer, 

 does Mammon, naked and unashamed, rule the 



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