The fronts of the altars were adorned with candles, many of them set in candlesticks of solid silver, of great original cost. They were the gifts of wealthy worshippers in times gone by. One of the attendants sighingly remarked to Fred that people didn't give such magnificent candlesticks to the church nowadays. Even the candles seemed to be yellow with age, and from the dust collected on them it was evident they were not often renewed.
RELIGIOUS FESTIVAL IN FRONT OF A CHURCH.
It was formerly the custom to offer the sails of a ship, or some one of them, as a votive tribute to Our Lady of the Good Voyage, or to some other saint, for protection in time of peril. The following story is given by Mr. Ewbank in "Life in Brazil."
"A lady told me that some years ago she came from Rio Grande in one of her father's vessels. The passage was pleasant till within a day's sail of the Sugar-Loaf. A small cloud then rose rapidly from the horizon, darkness settled over them, the sea began to swell, and other indications of a storm so alarmed the captain that he called the men aft, and asked them to join him in offering the mainsail to St. Francis de Paula, on condition of his carrying them safe in. The lady remembers them standing around the commander, and with loud voices calling on the saint, reminding him of what they had promised, each man confirming the gift so far as his proportion of the cost went.
MONK IN A PROCESSION.