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work lofcgeth thereto . Heren made of timbre and stained cloths . Hell made of timbre and iron-work , with devills , the number of 13 . Four knyghtes armed keeping the same , with two speers , two axes , and two targetts . Four pair of angels , wings ^ made of tymbre and well paynted . The fadre , the crown , and vysage . The Holy Ghost coming out of heven into the
sepulchre . * This , I think , was ** changing the glory of the incorruptible God into a similitude of the image of a corruptible man . " But to proceed . " On Easter Day , during a religious service , four monks robed themselves ,
one of whom in an alb , as if he had somewhat to do , came stealingly to the sepulchre , and there holding a palm-branch , sat still till the responsory was ended , when the three others , carrying censers in their hands , came up to him , step by step , as if looking for something—when he began singing in a soft voice , ( dtilcison ^ , ) € Whom
seek ye ?* To which they replied , 4 Jesus of Nazareth . * This was answered , * He is not here ; he is risen . ' At which words the three last , turning td the choir , cried , ' Alleluia ! the
Lord is risen / The other then , as if calling them back , sung , c Come and see the place / and then raised the cloth , shewing them the place without the cross , and the linen cloths in which it was wrapped ; upon which they laid down their censers , took the cloths ,
extended them to shew that the Lord was risen , and placed them upon the altar . ' * Maundreil , in his ** Journey from Aleppo to Jerusalem in the year 1697 , ** gives an account of the ceremonies at
the Chufch of the Sepulchre at the lafr * ter place , which he witnessed on Good Friday , thus : " As soon as it grew dusk , all the friars and pilgrims were convened to the Chapel of the Apparition , iii order to go in a procession round the church . Before they set out , a friar
preached a sermon in Italian . He began his discourse , ' In questa notte tenebrosa / &e « , at which all the can- * dies were instantly put out , to yield a livelier image on the occasion , and so we were held by the preacher for near half an hour very much in the dark . The sermon being ended , every person present had a large lighted taper put
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into his band , as If it were to make amends for the former darkness , and the crucifixes and other utensils were disposed in order for the procession . Among the crucifixes , there was one
of a very Large size , which bore upon it the image of our Lord , as big as the life . The image was fastened to it with great nails , crowned with thoms besmeared with blood , and was carried
all along in the head of the procession , after which the company followed , to all the sanctuaries in the " rhurch , singing their appointed hynrns at every one . The ceremcmy of the Passion being over , two friars , the one personating Joseph of Arimathea , the other Nicodemus , approached the
cross , drew out the great nails , and took down the feigned body . It was an effigy so contrived , that its limbs were soft and flexible , as if they had been real flesh : and nothing could be more surprising than to see the two pretended mourners bend down the arms which were before extended , and
dispose them upon the trunk , in a manner usual with a real corpse . At the € stone of unction * they laid down their imaginary corpse , and , casting over it sfcvferal sweet spices , wrapt it up in a winding-sheet . The obsequies being finished , they carried off theifr fancied corpse , and fcud it in the
sepulchre , shutting up the door till Easter morning . " The foregoing , I imagine , will sufficiently demonstrate the manner in which the mats , monks and nuns of the Holy Roman Church employ their time , and which I challenge Dr , Milner or his adherents to prove to be the duties
enjoined by Christianity , or in anywise tending to the edification of their neighbours ; on the contrary , they form ample proof , that there is scarcel y an incident in scripture history which those holy persons have not turned into stage-plays and puppet-shows .- ^ - I beg to refer the curious to the first volume of Stevens ' s Continuation of
Dugdale ' s Monasticon , a work com- * piled by a Roman Catholic , and in which a detail of a religious exhibition at Coventry is to be found , together with the monkish drama written in ancient rtiyme . I shall conclude with the words of William Penn : " Let us choose to commune where there is the warmest-sense of religion ; where dir-
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SuperitHlws Corruptions ofth * Romish Church . 38 $
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 2, 1821, page 287, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2500/page/31/
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