THE DANCE OF DEATH.

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witzerlandpecimen of

," and it isf eminenceh. In thet Paris, in•fSt. Paul

at Berlin,t Klingen-ire the re-f designedlight to be5 till verycathedralof Deathly part ofr insistedipartmenthurch ate remainss, in Nor-

the pif-

eighteented glass,

? St. Paul's,achabre, orof cloisterstrain of allnan beings;shaking his

whereon this subject has been depicted, withold English verses over the figures, may contri-bute to shew how very common it has been in ourown country. P. C. Hilcher, in a tract printedat Dresden in 1705, has taken notice of otherDances of Death at Dresden, Annaberg, Leip-zig, and Berne. Dr. Nugent has described onein St. Mary's church at Lubeck, which he statesto have been painted in 14G3.

The origin of all these is perhaps to be soughtfor in an ancient pageant, or religious farce, in-vented by the clergy, for the purpose of at onceamusing and keeping the people in ignorance. Inthis all ranks and conditions of life were perso-nated and mixed together in a general dance, inthe course of which every one in his turn vanishesfrom the scene, to shew that none were exemptedfrom the stroke of death. This dance was per-formed in the churches, and can be traced back

remembering hour-glass. Our old poet Lydgate, who flou-rished hi the year 1430, translated a poem on the subject,from the French verses which attended a painting of the samekind about St. Innocent's cloister, at Paris. The original verseswere made by Macaber, a German, in his own language. Thisshews the antiquity of the subject, and the origin of the hintfrom which Holbein composed his famous painting at Basil.

This cloister, the dance, and innumerable fine monuments(for here were crowded by far the most superb) fell victims to thesacrilege of the Protector Somerset, who demolished the whole,and carried the materials to his palace then erecting in theStrand. —Pennant's London, vol. ii. p. 135.

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