azure canopy intended to emulate the "spangled vault of heaven;" and
about two feet below the summit of it appeared, seated on a splendid
throne, an old man as the image of the Father Almighty, a representation
equally absurd and impious, and which could alone be tolerated by the
votaries of the worst superstitions of popery. On either side four
pasteboard angels of the size of men floated in the air, and flapped
their wings in cadence to the sounds of the organ; while above was
suspended a large triangle, at whose corners were placed three smaller
angels, who, at the intermission of each office, performed upon a set of
little bells the hymn of "_Ave Maria gratiâ Dei plena per Secula_," &c.
accompanied by a larger angel on each side with a trumpet. To complete
this portion of the spectacle, two others, below the old man's feet,
held tapers, which were lighted as the services began, and extinguished
at their close; on which occasions the figures were made to express
reluctance by turning quickly about; so that it required some dexterity
to apply the extinguishers. At the commencement of the mass, two of the
angels by the side of the Almighty descended to the foot of the altar,
and, placing themselves by the tomb, in which a pasteboard figure of the
Virgin had been substituted for her living representative, gently raised
it to the feet of the Father. The image, as it mounted, from time to
time lifted its head and extended its arms, as if conscious of the
approaching beatitude, then, after having received the benediction and
been encircled by another angel with a crown of glory, it gradually
disappeared behind the clouds. At this instant a buffoon, who all the
time had been playing his antics below, burst into an extravagant fit of
joy; at one moment clapping his hands most violently, at the next
stretching himself out as if dead. Finally, he ran up to the feet of the
old man, and hid himself under his legs, so as to shew only his head.
The people called him _Grimaldi_, an appellation that appears to have
belonged to him by usage, and it is a singular coincidence that the