_

"It was in the middle of summer, but the service we were recommended to
attend did not begin till it was dark. The church was well lighted, and
crowded almost to suffocation. On entering, we found three priests
standing side by side, in a sort of tribune, placed where the altar
usually is, handsomely fitted up with crimson curtains, and elevated about
as high as our pulpits. We took our places in a pew close to the rail
which surrounded it.

"The priest who stood in the middle was praying; the prayer was
extravagantly vehement, and offensively familiar in expression; when this
ended a hymn was sung, and then another priest took the centre place and
preached. The sermon had considerable eloquence, but of a frightful kind.
The preacher described, with ghastly minuteness, the last feeble fainting
moments of human life, and then the gradual progress of decay after death,
which he followed through every process up to the loathsome stage of
decomposition. Suddenly changing his tone, which had been that of sober,
accurate description, into the shrill voice of horror, he bent forward his
head, as if to gaze on some object beneath the pulpit, and made known to
us what he saw in the pit that seemed to open before him. The device was
certainly a happy one for giving effect to his description of hell. No
image that fire, flame, brimstone, molten lead, or red-hot pincers could
supply, with flesh, nerves, and sinews quivering under them, was omitted.
The perspiration ran in streams from the face of the preacher; his eyes
rolled, his lips were covered with foam, and every feature had the deep
expression of horror it would have borne, had he, in truth, been gazing at
the scene he described. The acting was excellent. At length he gave a
languishing look to his supporters on each side, as if to express his
feeble state, and then sat down, and wiped the drops of agony from his
brow.

"The other two priests arose, and began to sing a hymn. It was some
seconds before the congregation could join as usual; every upturned face
looked pale and horror-struck. When the singing ended, another took the
centre place, and began in a sort of coaxing, affectionate tone, to ask
the congregation if what their dear brother had spoken had reached their
hearts? Whether they would avoid the hell he had made them see? 'Come,
then!' he continued, stretching out his arms towards them, 'come to us,
and tell us so, and we will make you see Jesus, the dear ge