in Ferrara. It was, in fact, the devil of the Holy Inquisition—a terrific looking figure, of gigantic size, which moved by springs, at the pleasure of the Father Inquisitor.

The following anecdote will give an idea of the services that used to be performed by this representative of his Infernal Majesty :

A pastry-cook of Ferrara was brought before the tribunal of the Holy Inquisition, under the charge of having advanced some opinions which were not orthodox. After he had languished for some days in an obscure dungeon, the holy Father, moved by his humanity or his palate, ordered him to be relieved from the dungeon, and set him at work to make pastry in his kitchen. The poor fellow was very grateful for this indulgence, and did every thing in his power to please the taste of the Inquisitor; indeed, he succeeded so well in tickling his reverend palate, that he obtained the liberty of walking any where in the cloister. One day, as he was passing along a corridor, he observed that one of the chambers of the Holy Office was open; he could not resist his curiosity, and he entered. He had proceeded, however, but a few steps within the door, when the Devil in an instant bolted up at his back. This would have frightened most men; but the pastrycook was remarkable for presence of mind. He recollected that the figure had started up just as he stepped upon a square stone in the floor, and that when he moved his foot it disappeared. He repeated the experiment several times, and was soon convinced that

the pressure on the stone was the cause of the diabolical apparition. While he was amusing himself with this monkish machine, the real Devil, that is, the Father Inquisitor, appeared. The poor pastry-cook's resolution then forsook him entirely, and he fell down, overpowered with terror. He was instantly carried to his dungeon, where he would soon have expired, had he not fortunately met with so humane an Inquisitor. The good father considered his crime expiated by some months imprisonment, prayer, fasting, and voluntary discipline! After making him take a thousand oaths that he would never speak of the devil he had seen, and assuring him that he would suffer under the Sanbenito if he did not keep his word, the Holy Father restored him to the living.

The pastry-cook observed his promise religiously while this horrid tribunal existed; but it was no sooner destroyed by the victories of Buonaparte, than he began to relate his strange adventure. Strict search was at length made for Satan; and he was, at last, very fortunately discovered.

MUMMERIES AT ROME ON EASTER EVE.'

On the day preceding Easter Sunday, it is the annual practice at Rome to procure two or more Jews, or Turks*, to convert them to christianity, and confer on

* Turks are preferred, when they are to be had, but they are very rare. Eighty Roman crowns each are paid to the Jews, and all debts due to their brethren are cancelled.

them the rite of baptism. The ceremony is thus described by a lively, and, we believe, accurate, narrator of the religious ceremonies, manners, and customs, of the modern Romans. The two devoted Israelites prepared for this occasion, attired in dirty yellow silk gowns, were seated on a bench within the marble font of the baptistery, which resembles a large bath, both in form and shape, conning their prayers out of a book, with most rueful visages. Fast to their sides stuck their destined godfathers, two black-robed doctors of divinity, as if to guard and secure their spiritual captives. The ancient vase at the bottom of the font, in which, according to an absurd legend, Constantine was healed of his leprosy by St. Sylvester, stood before them, filled with water, and its margin adorned with flowers.

The Cardinal Bishop (who had been employed ever since six o'clock in the benediction of fire, water, oil, wax, and flowers) now appeared, followed by a long procession of priests and crucifixes. He descended into the font, repeated a great many prayers in Latin over the water, occasionally dipping his hand into it. Then a huge flaming wax taper, about six feet high, and of proportionate thickness, painted with images of the Virgin and Christ, which had previously been blessed, was set upright in the vase: more Latin prayers were mumbled-one of the Jews was brought, the Bishop cut the sign of the cross in the hair, at the crown of his head, then, with a silver ladle, poured some of the water upon the part, baptizing him in the usual forms, both the godfathers and he having agreed to all that was required

of them. The second Jew was then brought, upon whom the same ceremonies were performed; this poor little fellow wore a wig, and, when the cold water was poured on his bare skull, he winced exceedingly, and made many wry faces. They were then conveyed to the altar of the neighbouring chapel, where they were confirmed, and repeated the creed. The Bishop then made the sign of the cross upon their foreheads, with holy oil, over which white fillets were immediately tied, to secure it; he then pronounced a long exhortation, in the course of which he frightened them so, that the little Jew with a wig began to cry most bitterly, and would not be comforted. This being over, the Jews were conducted, with great ceremony, from the baptistery to the door of the church, where they stopped, and, after some chaunting by the Bishop, they were allowed to pass the threshold; they were then seated within the very pale of the altar, in order that they might witness a succession of various ceremonies.

At twelve o'clock on this day the Resurrection is announced to the people, by the ringing of the bells of more than three hundred churches at once; the firing of cannon from the castle of St. Angelo; the blowing of horns and trumpets, the clang of kettle-drums, and every species of tumult.-Rome in the Nineteenth Century, vol. iii, p. 155.

RELICS AT AIX-LA-CHAPELLE.

At Aix-la-Chapelle they possess the following relics, presented them by Pope Leo X. and three hundred and sixty-five bishops, when they consecrated the cathedral :-"The shift worn by the Virgin Mary at the birth of Christ; a piece of cloth that was girt upon the body of Christ when on the cross; a piece of the cord with which he was bound; some of the blood of St. Stephen, now eighteen hundred years old; a picture of the Virgin and child, embossed on jasper, by St. Luke; also a golden casket, set with precious stones of inestimable value, containing a bit of earth upon which a drop of the blood of St. Stephen fell when he was stoned to death. The cathedral of Aix-la-Chapelle also possesses the girdle of the Virgin, a fragment of Aaron's rod, and a morsel of the manna of the desert. Below the altar (and which are only shown once in seven years) are, 1st. a white robe, which was worn by the Virgin Mary; 2nd. the clothes of our Saviour; 3rd. the sheet in which he was wrapped while on the cross; 4th. the cloth in which St. John was wrapped after his decapitation."-Donald Campbell's Journey.

BAPTIZING CATTLE.

This custom is still exercised in Cologne. The cowkeeper (say the Colognats), who takes the cows to the meadows, must baptize the calf, the bull, or the heifers