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RELIGIOUS REPARTEE.

Furetiere mentions a diminitive Jewish physician on the day of Corpus Christi having caused a crucifix to be fastened over his door, which at the close of the day he endeavoured himself to take down, but was prevented by the shortness of his stature. Observing a tall porter going by he desired him to take down the crucifix; the catholic, surveying his Jewish countenance, sharply replied-"Let those take him down "who hung him up."

PROTESTANT ZEAL.

The tapestries which Jane of Albret, queen of Navarre, worked with her own hands, as hanging monuments of the liberty she procured herself and others by shaking off the yoke of the pope, were highly characteristic of the spirit of the times. In order to show as plainly as possible, her opinion of the sacrifice of the mass, having a very beautiful and excellent piece of tapestry, wrought by her mother Margaret, in which was admirably well represented the sacrifice of the mass, and the priest holding out the wafer to the people, she pulled out the square piece in which this was depicted, and instead of the priest she put in with her own hand a fox, which turning itself toward the people, and grinning most

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horridly, represented with its paw in its mouth, these words, Deus vobiscum, the Lord be with you. In another very rich suit of tapestry hangings which, belonged to the queen of Navarre, Luther and Calvin were represented giving his holiness a clyster, which worked him to such a degree, that he was seen in another compartment troubled with a violent vomiting and looseness, and evacuating a number of kingdoms and sovereignties as Denmark, Sweden, the dukedom of Saxony, &c. Now Luther certainly did all this, but who would expect to see it thus grossly perpetuated.

CURIOUS PICTURE.

There is a picture in a church at Bruges that puts not only all chronology, but all else out of countenance. It is the marriage of Jesus Christ with St. Catherine of Sienna. St. Dominic, the patron of the church, performs the ceremony, the Virgin Mary joins their hands, and to crown the anachronism, king David plays the harp at the wedding.

RELIGIOUS MUMMERY.

Religious mummery seems to be not an inap. propriate title for an article on some of the pious vows which were made by the knights in the

times of chivalry. The most extraordinary of these vows was perhaps that of the peacock or pheasant, made by the knight on the bird; it was performed in the following manner; the day on which the knights were to take their solemn vows, a peacock or pheasant, sometimes roasted, but always dressed and garnished out with its finest feathers, was brought in with great dignity by the ladies or the young gentlewomen, in a large gold or silver vessel in the midst of a numerous company of assembled knights. They presented this dish to each knight, who made his vow on the bird: after which they carried it. back, and placed it on a table, to be distributed among the assistants. The skill of the person who carved it, consisted in dividing the part so nicely that all present might have a share. The old romancers who wrote on this singular vow inform us, that the ladies or young gentlewomen, after presenting the bird to every knight, chose one of the most valiant knights to accompany them in this ceremony, and to direct the peacock to that knight whom he esteemed the bravest which being done, the knight elected, cut up the bird and distributed it in his sight. So high a preference bestowed on eminent valour was not accepted till after a long and modest resistance, and confessing themselves the least

worthy of this honour: in the same manner as the knights admitted into the order of the holy Ghost protested they were wholly undeserving of so glorious a distinction. The account of the singular ceremony which passed at Lisle in 1453, on conferring this order at the court of Philip the good, duke of Burgundy, is too curious to be omitted, and is perhaps the most extravagant specimen of religious mummery upon record. It was exhibited upon occasion of the crusade against the Turks, when the conquest of the Eastern Empire was accomplished by the taking of Constantinople, and is thus described by Mat thew de Couci, and Oliver de la Manche, who were at this feast. The necessary time for the preparations and arrival of the knights, was passed in several feasts given by the principal Fords, the last of which was that of the duke of Cleves, when they proclaimed the banquet of his uncle the duke of Burgundy, which according to the ancient custom was to be given eighteen days from that time. The proclamation was thus made: a lady, mounting on the table where the duke of Burgundy was seated, by a step made for that purpose, kneeled down before him, and placed on the head of that prince a chaplet or crown of flowers: from hence the custom of offer ing at balls, a nosegay to the person who is to

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give the next entertainment. When the eighteen days were passed the duke of Burgundy drew together his whole court, and the nobility of his different states to his banquet, which was the annunciation of the high mysteries of religion and of knighthood; when, if the magnificence of the prince was admired in the multitude and abundance of services, it was still more conspicuous in the elegant spectacles displayed in the entremets, or curious and dainty dishes, brought in between the services and the fruits; by which the feast was rendered more pompous and amusing. There appeared in the hall divers decorations, machines, figures of men, and extraordinary animals, trees, mountains, rivers, and a sea with vessels on it; all these objects were intermixed with personages, with birds and other living animals, who were in motion in the hall, or on the great table, and represented the actions relative to the design the duke had formed; which was to exhibit the feasts of the palace of Alsine, in the ancient court of France. It is astonishing to conceive what must have been the extent of the hall which contained so spacious a table, or rather so vast a theatre, with the ground necessary for the action of so many machines and persons, without reckoning the multitude of the guests, and the crowd of spec

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