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A SCHILLER-PEST. 45
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
4 .» » —. — Debut Led It 1782 Ged Was , ...
formed into an avenue hy means of : fir-trees , artificially placed all down each sidenear to one anotherand connected by garlands
and wreaths , from , which hung- tiny lamps , and Chinese lanterns for the morrow ' s illumination .
As soon as it was dark enough in the evening , came on a kind of overture to the morrow ' s festivities , in the form ofa . cc
Faekelzug " —a torch-light procession . First came a kind of local firebrigade , bearing flaming torches , which lighted up the whole street
in a weird red glare , as the bearers marched on silently , some _Rve abreast ; then came a very long double line of men , each bearing
a Chinese lantern on a pole , the two lines walking some yards apart , leaving blank the space occupied by the inner ranks of
firemen in the first troop , giving the effect of two walls of coloured lihtinclosing a long dark line of space . Then came another
bod g y , of torchbearers , then string after string of lanterns ; the whole procession thus alternated , numbered certainly many
hundreds _^ The glare of the torches and lanterns falling at the starting point on the red sandstone of the Grand Ducal Schlossgave a
, wonderfully brilliant effect , till the departure of the last of the long train left the palace court , in which they had assembled , in
darkness . Very early on the Monday morning all Mannheim was astir , for
the unveiling of the statue was to take place at 10 a . m . Our party having by the kindness of friends been furnished with
windows fronting the Theater-Platz , we were in our places in time to see the great square gradually fill .
Directly opposite to the statue was erected the prettiest temporary stand , the roof and sides hidden in a profusion of green , the
back formed of crimson drapery , and the front supported by columns of spotless whitewreathed with delicate green festoons . Those
columns were indeed , triumphs of art , consisting simply of wooden posts draped in white linen or cotton , so arranged in plaits drawn
tightly in above and below , as to give the exact appearance of delicately fluted white pillars . On each side of this stand were
ranged a number of excellently mounted and appointed cavaliers , probably belonging to the regiments in town , though clad in dark
coats , spotless leathers , and long boots , forming an admirably clear and effective linetill some rashly aspiring burghersvery differently
got up , presumed , to break in upon it , considering , themselves and their questionable steeds no doubt great additions to the beauty of
the scene , or they would never have so endangered their own and their neighbours' necks by efforts at equestrianism , which reminded
one of Punch ' s advice to " get inside and draw down the blinds . " Butmeanwhilethe great square was filling apace ; long strings
, , of and parochial after them schools , guild after were guild arriving belong in ing the to most different orderl trades y manner , each ;
body bearing before it a banner with its appropriate ensign , —the carpenters , with the traditional adze and compasses _; the
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A Schiller-Pest. 45
A SCHILLER-PEST . 45
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), March 2, 1863, page 45, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_02031863/page/45/
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