I ought to represent at once a trumpeter, and a gunner, a leader of the choir and a commander, a messenger and a preacher. As a trumpeter I should, with the clear sound of God's holy word, in perfect humility, proclaim the admirable Joseph; proclaim, that his Electoral Highness had most graciously created him Grand Burggrave of Bavaria. I should be as a gunner, placed on the edge of this pulpit, to apply the seraphic match of the Holy Ghost to the cannons of your hearts, loaded as they are with sacred love! The duty of a leader of the choir should I discharge by beating proper time to the music and organ of your prayers! As a commander I ought to assemble you, soldiers of Christ! under the ensign of the cross, that you may receive the most illustrious Joseph with the presented arms of faith, and a feu de joie formed by hymns of praise! I am sent hither as a messenger to congratulate the divine Joseph, in the name of his Highness the Elector, upon his reaching our frontiers, and escort him in suitable dignity to court! Lastly, I have to fulfil the task of a preacher, by inciting your hearts to render homage unto the blessed Joseph, and confide in his might and power in these perilous and sanguinary times. For my ready tongue, like a living pen, possesseth not the power to depict to you the glory of this Santissimus (most holy one). He was betrothed to the Empress of Heaven; he was the foster-father and parent of our blessed Saviour; his guardian angel; the first Christ in the world, and above all apostles, angels, prophets, and saints, inasmuch as he is a near relative of the Holy Trinity, and to be esteemed a Prince of the Blood of God! Finally, he hath been chosen patron of all Bavaria, although many saints of heaven canvassed for that dignity. "O ye heavens, open then your portals! Encircle our festival with your glory! Ye seraphic dukes! ye cherubim princes, be ye not ashamed to render due service unto my illustrious Joseph, and join your voices to the heavenly chorus hallelujah! Ring a joyous peal, ye empty bells of metal! Fire, ye gunners; Sound a "Vivat" to our Joseph, O ye trumpeters! [Nota bene, Here the trumpets are blown.] There is much more of this kind of oratory; but the reader will probably be fully satisfied with the preceding specimen.-Dr Aikin's Athenæum, April 1808. MONKS OF LA TRAPPE. So completely dead to the world are these insane bigots, that they do not hear even of the death of their nearest relations. The Superior announces in the chapel that the father or mother of one of them is dead, but without mentioning the name; and the whole society is thus agitated at once with the grief which should belong to an individual.-London Weekly Review, 1828. (1 THE BLESSING OF CANDLES AT ROME. A modern writer having given the details of this religious rite as she witnessed it in 1825, we give it in her words. "The ceremony takes place in the beautiful chapel of the Quirinal, where the Pope himself officiates, and blesses, and distributes with his own hands, a candle to every person in the body of the church; each going individually, and kneeling at the throne to receive it. The ceremony commences with the cardinals, then follow the bishops, prelati canons, priors, abbots, priests, &c. down to the sacristans and the meanest officers of the church. When the last of these has gotten his candle, the poor conservatori, the representative of the Roman Senate and people, receive theirs. This ceremony over, the candles are lighted, the pope is mounted in his chair and carried in procession, with hymns chaunting, round the anti-chapel: the throne is stripped of its hangings, the pope and cardinals take off their gold and crimson dresses, put on their ordinary robes, and the usual mass of the morning is sung. The Benediction of the Candles takes place in all the parish ehurches.-Lady Morgan's Italy. THE IMPROPRIETY OF SPRINKLING HOLY WATER IN THE DARK. A friend of mine (says Mr. Lambert, in his travels,) was once present at the house of a French lady, in Canada, when a violent thunder storm commenced. The shutters were immediately closed, and the room darkened. The lady of the house, not willing to leave the safety of herself and company to chance, began to search her closets for the bottle of holy water, which by a sudden flash of lightning she fortunately found. The bottle was uncorked, and its contents immediately sprinkled over the ladies and gentlemen. It was a most dreadful storm, and lasted a considerable time: she therefore redoubled her sprinklings and benedictions at every clap of thunder or flash of lightning. At length the storm abated, and the party were providentially saved from its effects which the good lady attributed solely to the precious water. But when the shutters were opened, and the light admitted, the company found, to the destruction of their white gowns and muslin handkerchiefs their coats, waistcoats, and breeches, that, instead of holy water, the pious lady had sprinkled them with ink. : MUMMERIES IN PORTUGAL. The Portuguese labourers of every description begin on Lady-day to enjoy, throughout the summer, the right of indulging in the siesta, or meridian nap, from one o'clock until three p. m. This being a comfort to which they attach great value, they have a feast on that day at the chapel of Nossa Senhora dos Prazeres, our lady of enjoyments, which is situated near Fonte Santa, on the north-west side of the city. At Michaelmas the right of siesta ends, and they celebrate its termination by a mock funeral process, arranged pretty much upon the same order of march which is observed when the sacrament goes to visit the sick. In front, are three men; the centre one carrying a mortar-board, suspended to a pole like a banner, while the others carry emchadas (large hoes) upright, in imitation of lanterns. An old tin water-pot serves for the bellman's use; and the incense-bearers carry mud baskets, suspended by three or four strings. In these they put a few lighted coals; and throwing something upon them to create a smoke, they swing the baskets to and fro as if they were censers. The trowels, pick-axes, mallets, &c., all are made to represent something connected with church ceremonies; and the dress of this brotherhood consists of a common sack, with a hole at the bottom for the heads to pass through, and one on each side for the arms. Sketches of Portuguese Life, &c. MIRACLES AT THE TOMB OF THE François Paris, son of a counsellor of the Parlement, relinquished, in favour of his brothers, all right to his paternal inheritance. He was a deacon, and, renouncing the world, retired to a house in the faubourg Saint Marcel. He died May 1, 1727, at the time when the Jansenists, dissenting from the bull Unigenitus, occasioned great troubles in the church of France. The memory of Paris was cherished by these men, and they reverenced him as a saint. His tomb, elevated about a foot above the ground, in the small cemetery of the church of Saint Médard, became the object of their |