The innocents abroad; . a rude picture of him built into a hugecross or a stone pillar by the road-side.âSome of the pic-tures of the Saviour were curiosities in their way. They represented him stretch-ed upon the cross, hiscountenance distortedwith agony. Fram thewounds of the crownof thorns; from the pier-ced side ; from the mu-tilated hands and feet;from the scourged bodyâfrom every hand-breadth of his personstreams of blood wereflowing! Such a gory,ghastly spectacle wouldfrighten the children outof their senses, I shouldthink. There were someunique auxiliaries to thepainting which addedto
The innocents abroad; . a rude picture of him built into a hugecross or a stone pillar by the road-side.âSome of the pic-tures of the Saviour were curiosities in their way. They represented him stretch-ed upon the cross, hiscountenance distortedwith agony. Fram thewounds of the crownof thorns; from the pier-ced side ; from the mu-tilated hands and feet;from the scourged bodyâfrom every hand-breadth of his personstreams of blood wereflowing! Such a gory,ghastly spectacle wouldfrighten the children outof their senses, I shouldthink. There were someunique auxiliaries to thepainting which addedto its spirited were genuinewooden and iron imple-ments, 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 ol vinegar; the ladderfor the ascent of the cross; the spear that pierced the Savioursside. The crown of thorns was made of real thorns, and wasnailed to the sacred head. In some Italian church-paintings,. WAYSIDE SHRINE. HEART AND HOME OF PRIESTCRAFT, 209 even by t^j^pld masters, the Saviour and the Yirsi-in wear silveror gilded ^owns that are fastened to the pictured head withnails. The effect is as grotesque as it is incongruous. Here and there, on the fronts of roadside inns, we foundhuge, coarse frescoes of suffering martyrs like those in theshrines. It could not have diminished their sufferings any tobe so uncouthly represented. We were in the heart andhome of priestcraftâof a happy, cheerful, contented ignorance,superstition, degradation, poverty, indolence, and everlastingunaspiring worthlessness. And we said fervently. It suitsthese people precisely; let them enjoy it, along with the otheranimals, and Heaven forbid that they be molested. We feel110 malice toward these fumigators. We passed through the strangest, funniest, undreampt-ofâ¢old towns, wedded to the customs and steeped in the dreamsof the elder ages, and perfectly unaware that the world turnsr
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Keywords: ., bo, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1890, booksubjectvoyagesandtravels
