There are ample particulars of the present usages on this day at the
chapel royal, St. James’s, in the _Every-Day Book_, with accounts of
celebrations in other countries; to these may be added the ceremonies at
the court of Vienna, recently related by Dr. Bright:--
“On the Thursday of this week, which was the 24th of March, a singular
religious ceremony was celebrated by the court. It is known in German
catholic countries by the name of the _Fusswaschung_, or the ‘washing of
the feet.’ The large saloon, in which public court entertainments are
given, was fitted up for the purpose; elevated benches and galleries
were constructed round the room for the reception of the court and
strangers; and in the area, upon two platforms, tables were spread, at
one of which sat twelve men, and at the other twelve women. They had
been selected from the oldest and most deserving paupers, and were
suitably clothed in black, with handkerchiefs and square collars of
white muslin, and girdles round their waists.
“The emperor and empress, with the archdukes and archduchesses,
Leopoldine and Clementine, and their suites, having all previously
attended mass in the royal chapel, entered and approached the table to
the sound of solemn music. The Hungarian guard followed, in their most
splendid uniform, with their leopard-skin jackets falling from their
shoulders, and bearing trays of different meats, which the emperor,
empress, archdukes, and attendants, placed on the table, in three
successive courses, before the poor men and women, who tasted a little,
drank each a glass of wine, and answered a few questions put to them by
their sovereigns. The tables were then removed, and the empress and her
daughters the archduchesses, dressed in black, with pages bearing their
trains, approached. Silver bowls were placed beneath the bare feet of
the aged women. The grand chamberlain, in a humble posture, poured water
upon the feet of each in succession, from a golden urn, and the empress
wiped them with a fine napkin she held in her hand. The emperor
performed the same ceremony on the feet of the men, and the rite
concluded amidst the sounds of sacred music.”
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~Good Friday--Easter.~
“VISITING THE CHURCHES” IN FRANCE.
On _Good Friday_ the churches are all dressed up; canopies are placed
over the altars, and the altars themselves are decorated with flowers
and other ornaments, and illuminated with a vast number of wax candles.
In the evening every body of every rank and description goes a round of
visits to them. The devout kneel down and repeat a prayer to themselves
in each; but the majority only go to see and be seen--to admire or to
criticise the decorations of the churches and of each other--to settle
which are arranged with the most taste, which are the most superb. This
may be called the _feast of caps_, for there is scarcely a lady who has
not a new _cap_ for the occasion.
Easter Sunday, on the contrary, is the _feast of hats_; for it is no
less general for the ladies on that day to appear in new _hats_. In the
time of the convents, the decoration of their churches for Passion-week
was an object in which the nuns occupied themselves with the greatest
eagerness. No girl dressing for her first ball ever bestowed more pains
in placing her ornaments to the best advantage than they bestowed in
decorating their altars. Some of the churches which we visited looked
very well, and very showy: but the weather was warm; and as this was the
first revival of the ceremony since the revolution, the crowd was so
great that they were insupportably hot.
A number of Egyptians, who had accompanied the French army on its
evacuation of Egypt, and were settled at Marseilles, were the most eager
spectators, as indeed I had observed them to be on _all_ occasions of
any particular religious ceremonies being performed. I never saw a more
ugly or dirty-looking set of people than they were in general, women as
well as men, but they seemed fond of dress and ornament. They had
swarthy, dirty-looking complexions, and dark hair; but were not by any
means to be considered as people of colour. Their hair, though dark, had
no affinity with that of the negroes; for it was lank and greasy, not
with any disposition to be woolly. Most of the women had accompanied
French officers as _chères amies_: the Egyptian ladies were indeed said
to have had in general a great taste for the French officers.[112]
[112] Miss Plumptre.
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