used to assemble at the Hôtel de Ville, and there they selected the girl
of the most exemplary character, to represent the Virgin Mary, and with
her six other young women, to act the parts of the Daughters of Sion.
The honor of figuring in this holy drama was greatly coveted; and the
historian of Dieppe gravely assures us, that the earnestness felt on the
occasion mainly contributed to the preservation of that purity of
manners and that genuine piety, which subsisted in this town longer than
in any other of France! But the election of the Virgin was not
sufficient: a representative of St. Peter was also to be found among the
clergy; and the laity were so far favored that they were permitted to
furnish the eleven other apostles. This done, upon the fourteenth of
August the Virgin was laid in a cradle of the form of a tomb, and was
carried early in the morning, attended by her suite of either sex, to
the church of St. Jacques; while before the door of the master of the
guild was stretched a large carpet, embroidered with verses in letters
of gold, setting forth his own good qualities, and his love for the holy
Mary. Hither also, as soon as _Laudes_ had been sung, the procession
repaired from the church, and then they were joined by the governor of
the town, the members of the guild, the municipal officers, and the
clergy of the parish of St. Remi. Thus attended, they paraded the town,
singing hymns, which were accompanied by a full band. The procession was
increased by the great body of the inhabitants; and its impressiveness
was still farther augmented by numbers of the youth of either sex, who
assumed the garb and attributes of their patron saints, and mixed in the
immediate train of the principal actors. They then again repaired to the
church, where _Te Deum_ was sung by the full choir, in commemoration of
the victory over the English, and high mass was performed, and the
Sacrament administered to the whole party. During the service, a scenic
representation was given of the Assumption of the Virgin. A scaffolding
was raised, reaching nearly to the top of the dome, and supporting an