knives and thongs; and, in imitation of the imaginary tramp of Jesus
with his cross up Calvary's rugged side, bear heavy crosses up steep
acclivities.


Passion Plays.

Anciently dramas representing the passion of incarnate saviours, called
Passion plays, were enacted upon the stage. The most celebrated of
these divine tragedies, known as Prometheus Bound, and composed by the
Greek poet AEschylus, was played at Athens 500 years before the
beginning of the Christian era. To show that this sin-atoning saviour
was not chained to a rock, while vultures preyed upon his vitals, as
popularly taught, but was nailed to a tree; we quote front Potter's
translation of the play, that passage which, readily recognized as the
original of a Christian song, reads as follows:

"Lo, streaming from the fatal tree,
His all atoning blood:
Is this the infinite? 'Tis he--
Prometheus and a God.
Well might the sun in darkness hide,
And veil his glories in,
When God the great Prometheus died
For man, the creature's sin."

The veiling of the sun, as represented in these plays, having reference
to the imaginary sympathy expressed by God Sol for the sufferings of
his incarnate son, was shown upon the stage by shading the lights. The
monks of the Middle Ages enacted plays representing the passion of the