their way. They represented him stretched upon the cross, his

countenance distorted with agony. From the wounds of the crown of

thorns; from the pierced side; from the mutilated hands and feet; from

the scourged body--from every hand-breadth of his person streams of blood

were flowing! Such a gory, ghastly spectacle would frighten the children

out of their senses, I should think. There were some unique auxiliaries

to the painting which added to its spirited effect. These were genuine

wooden and iron implements, and were prominently disposed round about

the

figure: a bundle of nails; the hammer to drive them; the sponge; the reed

that supported it; the cup of vinegar; the ladder for the ascent of the

cross; the spear that pierced the Saviour's side. The crown of thorns

was made of real thorns, and was nailed to the sacred head. In some

Italian church-paintings, even by the old masters, the Saviour and the

Virgin wear silver or gilded crowns that are fastened to the pictured

head with nails. The effect is as grotesque as it is incongruous.

Here and there, on the fronts of roadside inns, we found huge, coarse

frescoes of suffering martyrs like those in the shrines. It could not

have diminished their sufferings any to be so uncouthly represented.

We were in the heart and home of priest craft--of a happy, cheerful,

contented ignorance, superstition, degradation, poverty, indolence, and

everlasting unaspiring worthlessness. And we said fervently: it suits

these people precisely; let them enjoy it, along with the other animals,

and Heaven forbid that they be molested. We feel no malice toward these

fumigators.

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The Innocents Abroad